


(chaos) in your mind still

by w_anderingheart



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Bottom Kim Jongin | Kai, Fluff, Jongin is whipped, M/M, Office Blow Jobs, Pining, Romance, Smut, Top Do Kyungsoo | D.O, i am writing sm bc of quarantine rn //screams//, kind of fwb to boyfriends?? lol, ksoo flirts a lot in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:35:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23274097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/w_anderingheart/pseuds/w_anderingheart
Summary: Kyungsoo is an elite ivy school grad, the company’s newest hire, and the youngest person in the building with a fancy office. This makes most people jealous. Jongin just thinks it’s kind of hot. (Alternatively: the mega-flirty!kaisoo / slight crack / office!au that no one asked for)
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 63
Kudos: 554





	(chaos) in your mind still

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is NC17 for explicit sexual content. pls proceed w caution or skip if that’s not your cup of tea! ♡ i've also obviously based it on a tech/start-up office. hopefully the jargon isn't too confusing. in any case, this is in no way meant to be an accurate depiction of a workplace lmao… 
> 
> title is from “sadboy” by naaz. hope u enjoy ♡

❉ ❉ ❉

“So,” Jongin says, “you want me to do what?”

Minseok steals a gourmet-packaged chicken caesar wrap off the lunch table and throws Jongin an irritated look over his shoulder. “I said you need to take my place on the panel.”

“Ugh, why?” Jongin knows he shouldn’t whine, but he just finished a sixty-minute panel this morning, which he’d spent the last three days preparing for. He’d been hoping that he could spend the rest of the tech conference kicking his feet up in his fancy ass hotel suite, stealing all the free food, or maybe even go sight-seeing. It isn’t every day Jongin gets to take expensive work trips across the border.

“Well, for one, I’m technically your supervisor, which makes me technically your boss,” Minseok replies, smiling with such fake innocence that it makes Jongin frown. “And Joonmyun really needs me back in Toronto. Developers hit a snag on the app’s gamification and we’re pitching to investors in less than two days. I gotta fly back today.”

“But hyuuuung,” Jongin is Ultra Whining now but he doesn’t really care anymore. He grabs a fancy-looking glass water bottle and follows Minseok to an empty table. “I’m not prepared to sit on _another_ sixty-minute panel. I mean, it’s right after the afternoon keynote speaker, there’ll be so many people there.” He pauses. “I don’t even know what the panel is _about_.”

Minseok pulls the checkered wax paper off his chicken wrap, then pats Jongin’s leg reassuringly. (For the record, it does nothing to reassure him.) “Designing for education,” Minseok answers. When Jongin’s pout doesn’t leave his face, Minseok rolls his eyes. “You’ll be _fine_ , Jongin, you’re a senior UX designer now, for fuck’s sake. You are perfectly qualified to be on that panel. Don’t be so extra.”

“I’m _not_ being extra and if I don’t survive the day, there’ll be blood on your hands, hyung.”

❉ ❉ ❉

Jongin survives the day.

It’s tiring, but he makes it through, and gets hounded by a bunch of new-grads during the ten-minute break following the panel. Most people that come up to speak to him are eager to know how he wiggled his way into a senior role at the age of twenty-five, but some are just looking to exchange contact information. A rep from Google also head hunts him on the spot, but Jongin reassures her he’s not planning on leaving any time soon.

“Yikes,” Baekhyun smacks him fondly as they crack open a case of beer in Baekhyun’s hotel room later that night. “How many people d’you think were actually trying to network, or were just hoping to get your number?”

Jongin shakes his head. “I seriously doubt anyone was trying to do that.” He spreads his legs out on the bed. Baekhyun and Sehun, one of their current interns, are on the other bed, an abandoned game of Go-Fish spread out between them. “Baek, would your roommate mind if I slept here tonight?” Jongin yawns. “Minseok-hyung ditched me.”

Baekhyun cracks open a beer can, lifting it quickly to his lips to catch the fizzy bubbles from falling on the bed sheets. “I _would_ say yes, but Kyungsoo might be weird about it,” he replies. “He’s technically an exec so he should’ve had his own room but, you know, company is always trying to save money where they can.”

“This Kyungsoo guy sounds scary,” Sehun comments.

“Yeah, who even is he?” asks Jongin. “I know Chanyeol’s also close with him, but I still haven’t met him.”

Baekhyun nods. “Yeah, he’s terrifying,” he says, casually. “But he’s fine once you get to know him.”

Sehun looks unconvinced. “Is he? Because Seulgi told me she delivered papers to his office once and he lectured her on the differences between printing paper brands.”

“Mmm, yeah that sounds like Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun replies. “He’s like a quiet, brooding drama queen.”

Another hour passes in mindless chatter, then Jongin and Sehun turn into their rooms – happy-buzzed on beer and grumbling about their 8am wake up call.

❉ ❉ ❉

“What I’m saying is,” Baekhyun announces over breakfast the next morning, “Adobe Creative Cloud is a scam, and we should move towards other software instead of continuing to praise it as the holy grail, industry standard.”

Jongin spreads a generous helping of whipped butter over his toast and is very happy that he isn’t paying for this conference because this butter alone looks like it cost a whole grocery bill.

“I wouldn’t call it a scam,” Chanyeol, who’s sitting beside Jongin, offers. “But the payment model isn’t ideal.”

“Especially in Canadian dollars,” Baekhyun mutters, glaring down at his sausage and eggs. “I don’t know why Minseok wants to send our new mock-ups as an Xd file when we’ve already started them on Sketch.”

“Minseok- _hyung_ ,” says a new voice. “Don’t be rude, Baekhyun.”

Jongin looks up from his toast. A man he’s never seen before slides into the chair beside Baekhyun, and across from Jongin, playfully nudging Baekhyun aside to make him scoot down the table.

“We’re speaking in English, anyways, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun retorts, throwing a potato wedge into his mouth with his fingers. Kyungsoo just presses his lips together and starts nibbling on his fruit salad.

_So this is Kyungsoo_ , Jongin thinks. And once he starts staring, he realizes, it’s kind of hard to stop staring.

“You should respect your elders,” Kyungsoo shoots back in perfect Korean.

He’s… good-looking. With the kind of soft handsomeness Jongin might see gracing the screens of all of those historical dramas his sister watches. Jongin gets distracted by how small the man’s face is, but how large his features are – the roundness of his eyes, the fullness of his lips, and the thick, straight set of his dark eyebrows.

“I’m technically older than you,” Baekhyun points out. “I don’t hear you calling _me_ ‘hyung.’”

“Six months doesn’t count. Especially if you act twelve most of the time,” Kyungsoo responds dryly, and Chanyeol snorts under his breath.

Jongin is just about to look away, but then Kyungsoo looks up, coffee mug poised at his lips, staring straight at Jongin. And instead of breaking eye contact, like a normal human being, his eyes travel – Very Obviously – up and down Jongin’s face, then further down his neck and chest. When they trail back up to lock gazes again, Kyungsoo fucking _smirks_.

Someone, surely, has just set Jongin’s body on fire, because suddenly he can’t feel a thing.

“Oh! Jonginnie, this is Kyungsoo Do,” Chanyeol jumps in. “He joined the firm, like, a few months ago? He’s the new Communications Manager.” Then, to Kyungsoo, “Jongin is another senior UX designer. Recently promoted. He works on the fourth floor with us.”

Jongin clears his throat, offering his hand politely. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he says, and hopes he sounds Polite and Professional, and not at all like his head is spinning because Kyungsoo is kind of, well, _offensively_ hot for nine in the morning.

Kyungsoo takes his hand. His handshake is firm. “Likewise. Baekhyun talks a lot about you.”

“Shit talks, you must mean?”

“Sometimes,” he says nonchalantly. “Though I can’t imagine why.” He smiles and stabs a pineapple cube with his fork. Jongin has never before thought eating a pineapple cube off a fork could be sexy but I guess there’s a first for everything.

He bites the inside of his cheek before he says something embarrassing. “How come I’ve never seen you around before?” he asks instead.

“I don’t leave my office much,” Kyungsoo replies.

“But you work closely with the design teams, right?” Jongin didn’t know much about the executives at the firm, but he used to see the old Communications Manager running around all the time. None of the managers were ever this young, though. Not even Minseok, their design team lead, is anywhere close to getting an office and he’s been at the firm for seven years.

“Technically, yes,” Kyungsoo nods. “But I’ve been stuck helping Minseok-hyung with the latest client. It’s kind of an all-over-the-place job so far. Stressful, at times.”

“If you ever need to _de_ -stress,” Jongin interjects, “You should visit me and Baek on the fourth floor. Chances are at least one of us is slacking off at the ping pong tables.”

Kyungsoo chuckles, running his thin fingers through his soft, black hair, then lets his styled bangs flop gracefully against his forehead. His smile is poised, a little amused. But when he licks his lips, it’s anything but professional. His eyes are travelling again, landing not-so-subtly on Jongin’s mouth. “Could I visit just you?” he asks, cocking his head to the side, in an _impossible_ mixture of cute! And! Hot!

“You’re the boss,” Jongin says, breathlessly, like he’s just sprinted ten miles. “You can do… anything you want.” Mmm, yeah, he’s flirting right now. But Kyungsoo technically started it. And, well, it’s probably harmless? He’s sure Kyungsoo’s doing it just for fun. (Unlike Jongin, who’s honestly still reeling from the firmness of Kyungsoo’s handshake. A handshake like that? Kyungsoo is a top. Definitely a top. For the first time in a long time, Jongin is wondering what it feels like to _not_ be a top and, uhhh, it’s kind of making his heart pound?? _This was really getting out of hand._ )

Baekhyun and Chanyeol have descended into another heated discussion, and their loudness momentarily interrupts Jongin and Kyungsoo’s conversation. Though, Kyungsoo doesn’t seem very bothered at all. He’s still staring at Jongin over his coffee mug.

Jongin licks his lips. “So, you must be my hyung. Is that okay, if I call you hyung?”

Kyungsoo lifts an eyebrow, then does that disarmingly attractive smirk again. (The nerve!) “You can call me anything you want, Jongin.”

Yeah, okay, Jongin almost chokes on his toast and probably makes a really gross sound as his lungs collapse on him, but his brain doesn’t even have time to dwell on this because he’s pretty sure Kyungsoo’s knee is brushing his under the table now. And he’s pretty sure Kyungsoo might? Be doing it? On purpose???

“Are y’all still flirting or do you guys wanna head over to the first keynote now?” Baekhyun says, standing up with his empty plate, gaze flitting between the two of them.

Jongin is about to defensively insist that there is absolutely no flirting happening, but Kyungsoo stands up before Jongin can even open his mouth.

“We can put it on pause,” Kyungsoo says casually. Jongin’s jaw hits the table. Baekhyun rolls his eyes, smiling at Jongin with a helpless shrug.

It isn’t until all of them are walking across the hotel foyer, Jongin’s eyes glued to the swing of Kyungsoo’s hips as he walks in front of him, that Jongin realizes he is so fucked.

❉ ❉ ❉

The cyber stalking begins on Facebook.

On Monday, after the tech conference, Jongin finds ‘Kyungsoo Do (도경수)’ in Baekhyun’s friend list and, much to his disappointment, sees a photo-less profile. Fortunately, though, Kyungsoo’s account isn’t completely empty. Jongin scrolls through it like a mad man.

Kyungsoo is from Gyeonggi-do and moved to Toronto in middle school. He was born on January 12th, just two days before Jongin, and even though Jongin had figured that Kyungsoo would be pretty young, he realizes he is literally only _one_ _year_ older than Jongin, which makes Jongin kind of jealous, but also even more impressed. The kicker, though, is when he finds Kyungsoo’s ‘Education’ info: English Literature at fucking! Harvard!

“Yeah, that’s why he’s snobby and gets away with it.” Baekhyun appears behind Jongin’s chair, creeping on his screen over his shoulder. “Also, why he has an office.”

Jongin yelps and hides his screen. “Kyungsoo-hyung isn’t snobby!”

Baekhyun snorts, unimpressed. “Well, aren’t _you_ whipped?” he sighs, falling into the bean bag chair beside Jongin’s desk. “Kyungsoo is _definitely_ snobby, but not, like, in a malicious way. More like, when he talks, he finds it cute when people can’t keep up.”

Jongin scowls and pockets his phone, but not before working up enough nerve to send Kyungsoo a friend request. “Are you calling me dumb, Byun Baekhyun?” he mutters in Korean. Baekhyun sits up in the bean bag, kicking Jongin’s leg affectionately.

“Jongin, _everyone_ is dumb compared to Kyungsoo,” he says, like this is common sense. “Come on, are we gonna grab lunch or what?”

Jongin grumbles, but follows Baekhyun to the elevator. When they round the corner, Jongin stops in his tracks. Kyungsoo is walking towards them, one hand in the pocket of his grey slacks, the other scrolling through his phone.

“Speak of the devil,” Baekhyun says, loud enough that Kyungsoo can hear from down the hall. The latter looks up. When his eyes fall on Jongin, he smiles. Smirk-smiles, actually. God damn it.

Kyungsoo walks up to them just as Jongin’s phone vibrates in his pocket. He steals a glance at it quickly. A notification. _Kyungsoo Do_ _(_ _도경수_ _)_ _has accepted your friend request._

“Hi, Jongin,” Kyungsoo greets. “Baekhyun.” He’s dressed in a blue button up with a thin, grey tie. Jongin really shouldn’t be thinking about how good his torso looks right now with that shirt hugging him in all the right ways, but, uhhh, he is. “Did you just say ‘speak of the devil’?”

“It was Baekhyun-hyung,” Jongin blurts out.

Baekhyun shrugs. “We were talking about how the hiring managers are elitists because they gave you an office, Mr. Harvard.”

“Baek!” Jongin hits him in the arm. He looks at Kyungsoo shyly, through his bangs. “He, um, he’s kidding.”

Kyungsoo surprises him by chuckling his (gorgeously deep) chuckle and shakes his head. “It’s okay. It’s kinda true,” he says, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. It brings a lot of unnecessary attention to his hips. “My office door is always open, though,” he adds, and Jongin didn’t know it was possible for Kyungsoo’s velvety voice to get sexier but it _does_. “But, of course… if you ever want to stop by, the door has a lock.” He tilts his head at Jongin; smile placid, eyes innocent.

Okay. Now he’s being so unfair, Jongin wants to scream. He can’t tell if Kyungsoo makes him frustrated, or horny, or _frustratingly horny_. “Um,” Jongin replies, because that’s all he trusts himself to say without literally moaning. “Duly noted, hyung.”

Baekhyun throws an arm around Jongin’s neck. “Lay off, Kyungsoo, let the kid breathe.” He laughs. “We’re getting lunch,” he rolls his eyes, not looking the least bit put off by Kyungsoo’s suggestiveness _at all_. “Wanna come with?”

Bad! Idea! Jongin wants to interject, because at the rate they’re going, he isn’t 100% sure that he can get through a whole lunch with Kyungsoo without popping a boner.

Fortunately, Kyungsoo shakes his head. “I’d like to, but I’m actually heading to a meeting right now with the board of directors,” he replies. Is he pouting??? He’s pouting! Jongin’s heart swells. “Maybe next time, though.”

He nods stiffly. “Definitely next time, hyung.”

Baekhyun pulls Jongin along, but as he walks by, Kyungsoo’s hand brushes Jongin’s arm, and at this point, Jongin is sure that it isn’t a coincidence.

❉ ❉ ❉

A few weeks later and Jongin finds himself in bed scrolling through Facebook, waiting to feel sleepy, because he is _determined_ to not spend a nighttime jack-off session thinking about a particular senior-level executive. The other night, as he had been ~relaxing~ and ~taking care of himself~, a certain pair of big dark eyes had flashed through his mind just as he’d felt his climax approaching.

_Abort, abort, abort_. He had to quickly think of something – _anything else_ – to end his orgasm on. It seemed kind of dumb that Jongin felt so guilty about the whole thing in the first place. Kyungsoo didn’t exactly act… wholesome and innocent. And Jongin had fantasized about much less significant crushes in the past, small ones like that crush he had on a fourth-year teaching assistant when he was a first-year, or even the barista at the Starbucks near his apartment who just had really nice arms.

But maybe it’s _because_ Kyungsoo is so clearly _not_ wholesome and innocent that makes Jongin so worked up. As if he’ll show up to work the next day and Kyungsoo will smirk at him and Jongin will just not be able to hide the fact that he had jacked off to that _exact_ facial expression the night before. And Kyungsoo will magically know and then Jongin will beg for the Earth to swallow him whole.

So anyways, Jongin will _not_ jack off to Kyungsoo. Because also, well, he knows it will make him want Kyungsoo more??? Probably. And Kyungsoo might be a top tier flirt but there is no proof he _actually_ wants Jongin in that way. Other than Jongin’s own assumptions and desires, of course.

Jongin scrolls and scrolls and scrolls down his Facebook feed, occasionally stopping to tag Baekhyun and Chanyeol in dumb memes. He’s about to call it a night when suddenly, he stops on one of Minseok’s photos from four years ago. At first, Jongin doesn’t know why a photo from four years ago is fresh on his feed, but then he sees Kyungsoo has just recently been tagged in it too, and Minseok had posted a comment earlier that evening.

**Minseok Kim** : @Kyungsoo Do (도경수) From our last camping trip!! We’re such babies… ㅠㅠ

Kyungsoo hadn’t replied to the comment, or any of the other comments, but the little blue thumbs-up next to each one shows he at least read them all.

Jongin stares at the photo longer than he’d like to admit. Both Kyungsoo and Minseok are shirtless in the photo, and clearly much younger-looking than they are now. He hadn’t realized they were friends outside of work and that makes Jongin want to ask a lot of questions, before he reminds himself it’s not! His! Business!

He’s not sure what force of nature invades his body then, but he decides to like the photo and adds a short comment below it.

**Jongin Kim** : @Minseok Kim @Kyungsoo Do (도경수) cutest hyungs!!

It’s a harmless comment, not unlike all the other comments posted by their other friends, and Jongin is only slightly embarrassed as he hits ‘post’ and then rolls over to try and fall asleep.

The ping from his phone comes only two minutes later. He peeks at it to check if Kyungsoo had given his comment a thumbs-up as well. He hadn’t.

He _replied._

Jongin hastily slides the notification open.

**Kyungsoo Do (** **도경수** **):** @Jongin Kim ♡

❉ ❉ ❉

On Fridays, the company gets catered lunch. There are about 200 employees, spread across four floors of a downtown skyscraper, and each floor has their own kitchen space and lounge. The lounges always get pretty crowded, with everyone in the company taking their lunch break at the same time. But still, when Kyungsoo walks into their lounge, chatting casually with the CEO as they join the lunch line, Jongin gasps audibly.

Thankfully, Chanyeol has just told a timely joke, the climax to some story Jongin’s already heard about an ex-girlfriend from university. No one seems to be looking at Jongin amidst all the noise, except for Seulgi, who’s right beside him. She stabs her butter chicken, pointing the fork in Jongin’s distraction. “You’re all spaced out,” she comments, and rips off a piece of naan bread, munching thoughtfully.

Jongin looks down at his plate so she doesn’t follow his gaze. “No, I’m listening,” he shrugs to make it look casual. “Chanyeol’s jokes just aren’t as funny as he thinks they are.”

That _does_ get people’s attention this time. “Hey,” Chanyeol pouts. “You always laugh at my stories, Jongin.”

“I’ve heard them all by now,” Jongin smiles so Chanyeol knows he’s just teasing. “Besides, you don’t need me to laugh at them anymore. That’s what the interns are for.” He puts an arm around Sehun’s shoulder and pats him reassuringly. Sehun looks like he wants to bite his arm off, but he settles for a placid, unamused expression instead.

Baekhyun, who’s seated across from Jongin, grins and reaches over to squeeze Jongin’s cheeks. Baekhyun’s shorter than him but for some reason his limbs are always long enough to invade Jongin’s personal space. “Oh, Jongin, all grown up and no longer the design team baby,” he laughs, and Jongin bats his hands away. He’s not sure he likes Baekhyun calling him a baby when Jongin is supposed to be ~cool and mature~ in front of the interns. “We need to hire a junior full-timer so you’ll _really_ feel senior. Or maybe another intern so you can finally be someone’s manager.”

“Jongin’s not organized enough to be a manager,” Chanyeol chimes in, talking through a mouthful of basmati rice. There’s sauce on the corner of his lips and Minseok looks up from his work phone just long enough to toss Chanyeol a napkin. “You have to make all of the onboarding plans for new team members. And do bi-weekly check-ins and performance evals.”

It’s true that Jongin didn’t really love all the admin parts of the job, or anything that involved writing. He won’t admit that, though, so instead he glares at Chanyeol over his can of mango La Croix.

“I would take Jongin as a manager,” Seulgi says. “Baekhyun-oppa really isn’t all that organized himself.”

Baekhyun makes a noise of protest, looking hurt that his own intern has betrayed him. Chanyeol’s laugh soars over the chatter of the lunchroom, and when Jongin looks up again, he sees Kyungsoo seated three tables away, smiling at something Joonmyun, their CEO, has just said. Jongin is about to look down at his plate, but Kyungsoo catches his gaze just in time, holds it for a second too long, and Jongin’s brain tells him to _smile back_ !!casually!! but there are a million butterflies fluttering inside of his stomach now that Kyungsoo’s got him pinned with his very dark (very beautiful) eyes, so Jongin just blushes and looks away.

“Hey, Joonmyun’s here,” Chanyeol notices, a couple minutes later. “This is the first time I’ve seen him in like, three weeks. He’s never in his office.”

“It’s because he’s always running around from meeting to meeting,” Minseok replies, joining the conversation but peering at his phone every few seconds. He’s always got Slack open, checking all the new messages in every channel, as soon as they pop up. (Jongin, truly, could never be a manager. He gets stressed just looking at Minseok’s Google Calendar sometimes.) “The only time you can meet him is for five minutes on his bathroom breaks. Or if you schedule them a couple weeks in advance.”

“What a guy,” Baekhyun sighs dramatically. “Oh, to be thirty-six, handsome, and the CEO of a tech company.” He licks the sauce off his fork. “I’d totally switch lives with Kyungsoo too, to be honest. ‘Harvard grad’ is like an instant win in anyone’s books.”

Chanyeol snorts. “I know, right? My mom came over last week while I was working from home and saw Joonmyun and Kyungsoo’s headshots from our internal directory and she asked me if they were _actors_. She thought I was reading celebrity news or something.”

Minseok looks at them with a vaguely paternal smile. “Hey, I think _all_ of you are good-looking, too,” he says. “Don’t sell yourselves short.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re our work-dad,” Seulgi laughs, tying back her long hair so that it doesn’t fall into her food. “Unconditional love.”

“They’re coming over,” Sehun cuts in.

He’s right, both of them have finished eating, and putting their plates away and Kyungsoo is staring at Jongin, while saying something to Joonmyun. Jongin is suddenly very thirsty and starts chugging his La Croix. Chugging sparkling water isn’t exactly the best idea and he’s regretting it half-way through the can when his nose starts to prickle.

“Hi guys,” Joonmyun greets, as cheerily as ever. He’s wearing a dress shirt and jeans, and looks even more casual than Kyungsoo, who’s got a blazer on. It’s funny because both Kyungsoo and Joonmyun are kind of small, much shorter than Chanyeol and Jongin, and even a little bit shorter than Baekhyun, but they take up so much _attention_ in the crowded room. “I wanted to thank you guys for your work on the last sprint. The dev team told me we wouldn’t have been able to launch on time without your help.”

“Thank Jonginnie,” Minseok says. “He did a lot of the heavy-lifting for us.”

Joonmyun claps Jongin on the back. “It’s great stuff,” he says, smiling at Jongin so wide his eyes disappear. Jongin thinks there’s no way in hell this man is thirty-six. He looks like he could be Jongin’s age. “Kyungsoo thinks really highly of your work. And Kyungsoo isn’t an easy guy to impress.”

“Right,” Jongin can feel the heat in his cheeks. He usually kind of likes attention, but right now, it’s a bit overwhelming. “Um, I try my best.”

“Well, I hope you keep it up,” Joonmyun chuckles, before claiming he has to run to another meeting, of course. Kyungsoo decides to hang back since lunch break isn’t over and Baekhyun drags him along to the ping pong tables, insisting that they play at least one round. Kyungsoo admits he’s never played before, which makes Chanyeol’s jaw drop, as if that should be illegal.

“There’s not much learning involved,” Jongin tells him, reassuringly. “Just get used to holding the paddle and swinging with the right force.”

Kyungsoo shrugs his blazer off, rolling the sleeves up on his dress shirt, and tests his grip on the paddle. The muscles in his forearm are distracting. Jongin swallows.

“You can, um, loosen up a bit,” Jongin says. He’s standing a respectable distance away from Kyungsoo, a step or two behind him, but Kyungsoo peers over at him with an inviting expression, warm like sunlight. And Jongin must be a god-damned sunflower because he can’t help but close the gap between them, touching Kyungsoo’s wrist lightly to show him. “Like… stretch your fingers a bit. Yeah. And you don’t have to clutch it so tightly.”

“I see,” Kyungsoo says. He smells like expensive cologne and spices from lunch.

Kyungsoo isn’t all that great at ping pong, but for some reason, it’s kind of cute. He plays until the end of lunch break, losing every round to their whole team. He seems only a little bit embarrassed, ears slightly red, but grin stretched across his face as he forfeits the paddle to Sehun, who’s happy that he’s finally found someone worse than him.

“You’re a good teacher,” he says to Jongin, sliding a hand down Jongin’s arm. “Teach me again sometime?” He’s small next to Jongin. He’s the perfect height for him to lean his head onto Jongin’s shoulder. Jongin’s tongue goes drier than the desert.

“O-okay,” he stammers, and Kyungsoo smiles up at him.

As he puts his blazer back on, Jongin notices Wendy, one of the engineering leads, walk over to pull at Kyungsoo’s elbow. “Our meeting is in two minutes upstairs,” she tells him, looping her arm through his. “You might actually be late, for the first time _ever_.”

“I’d never,” Kyungsoo replies, and Jongin notices he doesn’t pull his arm away. “Let’s take the stairs. Don’t want to get caught up in the lunch rush. Or god forbid, get stuck in an elevator.”

“You’d love to get stuck in an elevator with me,” she teases. “I’m very entertaining.”

Kyungsoo hums. “We’re still taking the stairs.”

Jongin watches them bicker as they walk down the hallway to the stairwell, carefully adjusting his expression so that no one on his nosy team can ask him why he’s pouting.

❉ ❉ ❉

“I think,” Baekhyun announces one morning unprompted, “you should download Tinder.”

“What?” Jongin is watching dance videos on YouTube because it’s only 9:30am and the rest of the team, including Minseok, isn’t in yet. “Why would I do that?”

Baekhyun pauses thoughtfully. “Or Grindr, I guess? Whatever. You know what I mean.”

“Why would I do that?” Jongin repeats, only half-listening. He’s watching performances from a hip-hop showcase in LA. Jongin once thought he’d study dance professionally. Trained for it and everything. Almost applied for one of the performing arts programs at Ryerson. He doesn’t usually regret leaving behind his artsy dreams. Though, having someone as chatty as Baekhyun for a co-worker is making Jongin wonder if maybe it isn’t too late for a career switch.

“Because,” Baekhyun replies simply, “if you’re pining over a crush and you don’t plan on fucking them, it’s time to get a new crush _or_ get a fuck buddy.”

Okay _now_ Jongin is listening. “That’s—“ Jongin smacks the space bar on his laptop. There are so many things to unpack in that statement and Jongin doesn’t know where to begin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. And also, I don’t do dating apps.”

“Firstly, that’s such a shame because someone as hot as you will get _so many_ matches,” Baekhyun whines. He seems way too passionate about this and it’s not even 10am.

Jongin’s whole ~journey~ with his sexuality wasn’t as complicated as it was for others. He knew he liked guys from pretty early on in his life, and even though he grew up with mostly cis-straight dudes as his closest friends, no one in his immediate circles had ever given him trouble for his preferences. Most of them were, at worst, a little awkward like they didn’t know how to partake in conversations related to guy-crushes. But Baekhyun, clearly, is _not_ one of those friends.

“Secondly, I don’t know why you’re not making a move on Kyungsoo when he’s so clearly into you. If I was gay, I would be all over him.”

“He’s an exec, Baek.”

“So he has an office. Big whoop. It’s not like he’s our boss.”

“I think he’s just a flirty guy,” Jongin replies, thinking about how easily Kyungsoo smiled at Wendy from the dev team as she clung to his arm.

“A flirty guy,” Baekhyun repeats blankly, like he’s trying to process the words. “Jongin, I was literally right next to you when he said he’d like to fuck you in his office. Like, I was _right there_.”

“That’s not what he said.”

“I mean, it kind of was?”

Jongin sighs, snapping. “Why are you so concerned about this?”

“You’re my friend,” Baekhyun says, which on the list of things Jongin expected him to say, that sappy remark wasn’t one of them. Oh. Now Jongin feels bad. “And, I don’t know, I just want to see you doing something other than work all the time? Making me and Chanyeol look bad.” He laughs, as bright as ever, but it sounds softer this time. “Also, you kind of follow Kyungsoo with your eyes, you know. Like during lunch that one time when he was with Joonmyun. And when they came over to say hi and stuff, you were so _shy_ , like it was so weird. I’ve never seen you all ~blushy~ before.”

“Blushy is not a word, hyung,” Jongin mutters, but he feels himself getting _blushy_ again. “But, um, sorry for snapping at you.”

“That’s okay. I forgive you. Because I’m a really good person.”

“It’s just—” Jongin frowns. “I don’t know, you and Chanyeol said it yourself. Kyungsoo’s kind of…” Out of his league. Super smart. Well-respected. Rich, ivy-school grad. Actor-handsome. He could be anywhere and be… with anyone. People like Kyungsoo get bored of normal people like Jongin pretty fast.

Baekhyun’s chuckle is teasing. “Jeez, Jongin, don’t overthink so much. You don’t have to _date_ the guy. Just, you know, give in a little bit. Have some fun.”

“Yeah,” Jongin presses play on his video again and wishes he were the kind of person who was good at having fun with no feelings.

❉ ❉ ❉

(It’s kind of like skiing. Jongin is bad at skiing. Not like his sisters, who love taking ski trips to Blue Mountain almost every winter. One time they even dragged Jongin all the way across the country to ski in Alberta. But the truth is, that feeling of gliding down the slopes, finding the balance between control and surrendering to momentum – that part has always been difficult and kind of scary to Jongin. He thinks that’s what crushes always feel like. That’s what _this_ crush feels like, especially. Once he takes that first step, once he acknowledges that he’s really _in it_ , there’s no going back. Because even if he gives in just a little, he’s scared he won’t be able to control it. That he’ll surrender completely, powerless, losing his balance and tumbling down the slope, straight to the bottom.)

❉ ❉ ❉

Kyungsoo comes by to deliver a gift.

It’s some kind of fancy basket full of expensive-looking chocolate. There are even two champagne bottles sticking up in the centre.

“This is from Joonmyun?” Chanyeol gapes in awe, immediately lunging for one of the chocolate boxes. It’s tied with a gold ribbon. It looks extremely lavish. Jongin valuates it at a whole day’s worth of his pay. “What for?”

“Your team’s work on the last sprint,” Kyungsoo informs them. “Like he said, he’s really thankful that you guys worked so quickly on it. Seems like it’s having a significant impact on our revenue. In a good way, of course.”

Minseok reaches into the box Chanyeol has ripped open, popping a chocolate into his mouth. “He’s making you hand-deliver his gifts now?” he chuckles, gesturing at Kyungsoo to partake.

Kyungsoo shakes his head, at both the offer and the question. “No, he’s just busy. And I volunteered,” he replies. “I wanted an excuse to come down here.” His eyes drift to Jongin, who’s standing right behind Minseok, peering into the basket curiously. _Means nothing_ , Jongin has to remind himself petulantly and makes an extreme, excruciating effort to not melt into a puddle right into the floor.

“You like us that much?” Minseok jokes.

“Jongin, the most,” Kyungsoo shrugs, and Jongin chokes on his chocolate. Seulgi frowns at him, slapping his back.

No one else seems to realize Jongin is kind of dying, not even Minseok who just rolls his eyes and laughs. “He _is_ our most behaved team member,” he agrees, and as if to prove his point Baekhyun and Chanyeol start arguing over who gets to pop the champagne first. Minseok patiently tells them neither of them are opening any champagne in the middle of the work day.

When Minseok gets distracted by a Slack message on his laptop, Jongin holds a piece of chocolate out for Kyungsoo. “Are you sure you don’t want one, hyung? You delivered it yourself, you should at least try it,” he says. It’s kind of hard to make direct eye contact with Kyungsoo. He stares at Jongin too intensely. Or maybe Jongin just has a hard time staring back at people who are stupid hot.

Kyungsoo smiles. “The reward was getting to see you,” he replies, and Jongin almost drops the whole damn chocolate box. Just when he thought he could convince himself Kyungsoo’s flirting was harmless… he really makes Jongin doubt everything. “But, sure, I’ll take one. Since you asked.” He plucks the little square out of Jongin’s fingertips, chewing it slowly. “Hmm. Too sweet.”

Jongin sips his water bottle, smiling. “You don’t like sweets?”

Kyungsoo makes a non-committal noise, raising an eyebrow in a way that makes Jongin’s throat go dry all over again.

“Sometimes I do,” Kyungsoo mutters, licking caramel off his pink lips.

As he waves goodbye, heading back towards the elevators, Jongin realizes this whole ~Kyungsoo situation~ enveloping his brain is going to be a lot harder than he thought.

“You’re doing it again,” Seulgi says, claiming a whole chocolate box for herself and Sehun. “Pouting, I mean. What’re you thinking about?”

Jongin blows the hair out of his forehead. “Skiing,” he replies glumly, ignoring the confused face she makes as he slouches back into his desk chair.

❉ ❉ ❉

It rains like buckets that afternoon. Jongin curses in the lobby, contemplating an Uber instead of the ten-minute walk to the nearest station. Taking transit, he has to transfer to another bus at the end of the west subway line anyways. That could be another ten to twenty-minute wait outside. He’s feeling impatient and lazy, and not in the mood to catch a cold. He frowns down at his phone, staring at the $60 Uber fee and trying to decide if it’s worth it.

“Do you need a ride?”

Jongin looks over and sees Kyungsoo smiling up at him. He’s wearing a light grey overcoat, with a black scarf up to his chin. Jongin thinks it’s not nearly cold enough outside to warrant a coat _and_ a scarf, but something about that is kind of adorable. His chest squeezes and soars at the same time.

“Hi, hyung,” Jongin’s voice cracks, embarrassingly, and he coughs, hoping Kyungsoo hadn’t noticed.

“I’m happy to give you a ride,” Kyungsoo says again, as if Jongin hadn’t heard him the first time. (Of course he’d heard him, but like most things with Kyungsoo, Jongin’s brain moves in slow motion.)

“It’s okay,” Jongin shakes his head. “It’s probably really out of your way. I live out in the suburbs.”

Kyungsoo touches his elbow gently, tilting his head a bit as if studying him. “That’s not out of my way,” he replies, and the seriousness in his tone has Jongin inclined to believe him.

“R-really? Hyung, it’s an hour drive during rush hour—"

“I want to,” Kyungsoo says, his smile widening. It’s… warmer than his other smiles. Not the teasing smirks he gives Jongin in the hallways, but something else, purely kind and patient. It makes Jongin want to lean into his touch. “If… you want me to, of course.”

The slight hesitance surprises Jongin, and he can feel himself caving under Kyungsoo’s steady gaze. “I’d like that a lot,” Jongin chuckles nervously. “Um, only if that’s really okay with you.”

“It is very okay with me,” Kyungsoo steers him toward the parking garage. “I’d worry about you catching a cold out in the rain. Bet you don’t have an umbrella.”

The parking garage is dim and echo-y. Jongin’s laugh rings out too loud, bouncing off the walls. “I’m terrible at checking the weather in the morning. Baekhyun and Chanyeol always say I’d be a bad manager because I can’t remember to do even the littlest things.”

“That’s not true,” Kyungsoo says, sounding awfully sure. He clicks his car keys and a white Mercedes-Benz near the exit flashes. “Your designs are very detail-oriented. It’s what make them so good. They’re pretty, but also strategic.”

Jongin’s glad it’s too dim for Kyungsoo to see him flushing. “Designing is different. I get tunnel-vision with my work a lot, which is sometimes a good thing. But it’s also why Minseok-hyung doesn’t give me any other responsibilities. Or put me in charge of any of the interns,” he ducks into the passenger seat, and Kyungsoo’s car is exactly as he thought it’d be. Pristine clean and smelling faintly of leather and Kyungsoo’s minty cologne. “Baekhyun and Chanyeol might seem like kids, but they’re really good at the whole empathy-focused side of the job. They know how to _explain_ things, to mentor, and be flexible with what they make. I just kind of… design what I like and pray Minseok approves it.”

Kyungsoo starts the car and it rumbles to life quietly. “Well, teams need to be varied,” he says, as he puts the car into reverse. “Minseok hired you for a reason.” He peers out the rear mirror, placing a hand behind Jongin’s chair as he backs the car up, and Jongin pretends that isn’t one of those dumb things he secretly finds really attractive. “Imagine having a whole team of Baekhyuns or Chanyeols. Minseok would go crazy.”

The thought makes Jongin grin. “It would, but he’d still love them. No matter how annoying they are.”

Kyungsoo turns the radio on to a generic pop station as they drive out into the city, and then towards the highway. They sit in silence for a while, but neither of them seem to mind, Jongin tapping a light beat against his knee whenever he hears a song he knows. It isn’t until the CN Tower is disappearing behind them that Jongin asks, “So, where do you live, exactly?”

“Will you come visit me sometime if I tell you?” Kyungsoo chuckles.

“You have to tell me first,” Jongin counters lightly.

Kyungsoo shifts lanes. “My apartment is near the lakeshore.”

Jongin swivels his head abruptly. “The _lakeshore?_ As in, downtown? As in, we’ve been driving almost thirty minutes _away_ from where you live?”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says innocently. “Why?”

“Hyung, you said I was along the way!”

Kyungsoo looks apologetic, but not apologetic enough. “I didn’t say that. I said it wasn’t _out_ of my way,” he clarifies. “And it’s not. Not to me, at least. I offered, remember?” He places a hand on Jongin’s thigh and Jongin visibly shivers. Kyungsoo seems to notice, startled, and takes his hand back.

“Sorry, Jongin, I didn’t mean to—”

“Don’t be sorry,” Jongin says hastily, his mouth moving before his brain. He catches Kyungsoo’s wrist and pulls it towards him again. Kyungsoo smiles reluctantly, resting it there once more. “I… I liked it. Like it, I mean. You just surprised me, is all.”

Kyungsoo hums, and that smirk makes a comeback. “Like what?” he asks, rubbing small circles into Jongin’s inner thigh with his thumb. It’s not close enough to Jongin’s crotch for him to feel justified getting semi-hard but, well??? He kind of _is_ getting semi-hard and he kind of hates how much he feels like his body is on fire while Kyungsoo looks completely unphased.

“You,” Jongin says, staring straight out the window because he absolutely can’t look Kyungsoo in the eyes right now. “When you touch…”

“Oh?” Kyungsoo keeps his left hand on the wheel, steady. There’s still almost a half hour left of this drive and Jongin doesn’t know if he’ll make it home in one piece. His bones feel like jelly for _no reason_. “When I touch you?” Kyungsoo repeats, in a low, low tone. His hand climbs up Jongin’s leg approximately three millimetres, but Jongin feels every single millimetre. His senses are on overdrive.

“I wish—” Jongin traces a finger along the soft skin of Kyungsoo’s hand, from the tips to his knuckles and up his wrist. What he wishes… he realizes he probably shouldn’t say out loud. Because even though now he can’t mistake the smirk on Kyungsoo’s lips or the slow press of his thumb into Jongin’s thigh (or the fact that Jongin really likes commanding Kyungsoo’s attention like this), he’s also not sure what it all means. What it really means to Kyungsoo.

He can hear Baekhyun in the back of his mind, telling him to stop overthinking. To just have fun. But as he peeks at Kyungsoo’s face in profile, catching the orange light of the setting sun, and feeling his heart skip a beat more at _that_ than the heat in his crotch, Jongin wonders when and how and why the hell he’s fallen down this fucking slope without even realizing.

❉ ❉ ❉

Jongin had been right – that one little step, and it’s over for him.

It isn’t that he _changes_ his routine, per se, but maybe, possibly, he _mildly alters_ his schedule so that he can run into Kyungsoo more often. For example, he notices that Kyungsoo comes into work at eight, not nine like most of the office, so one day, Jongin tries waking up an hour earlier and eventually, his body clock adjusts.

The office is quiet at 8am. When they finally run into each other, on the third floor bathroom, Kyungsoo’s eyes widen in surprise. It makes Jongin kind of… dizzy. Kyungsoo didn’t seem like the type to surprise easily, and Jongin likes the way Kyungsoo’s smiles go from polite to playful, in one instant.

“You’re up early,” Kyungsoo observes, leaning against the door with his arms crossed. “What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion,” Jongin shrugs. “Just thought I could spend the extra hour being productive.”

“Yeah?” Kyungsoo takes a step towards him. “And _have_ you been productive?”

“I don’t know, hyung,” Jongin murmurs quietly, his heart beating in his throat. Kyungsoo is so close to him, so pretty, and Jongin is apparently a masochist. He wants really inappropriate things from Kyungsoo. Every single NSFW fantasy across the board. And maybe Kyungsoo wants that from him too. (But that’s most likely _all_ Kyungsoo wants, and Jongin can’t say the same for himself.)

“I’m sure I could use some help… you know, improving my productivity,” Jongin murmurs again, even quieter this time.

Kyungsoo barely bats an eyelash at that, but when he speaks, his voice is thick and raspy. “Hmm.” Kyungsoo’s hands bracket Jongin’s waist, and for a second, Jongin thinks (hopes) that Kyungsoo is really about to undo the button of his jeans. But then, his hand travels upwards, pausing at Jongin’s chin. He rubs a soft circle against his morning stubble. “You’ve got a smudge of toothpaste here,” he says quietly, breath hot on his skin.

“I was rushing,” Jongin replies.

“Rushing?” repeats Kyungsoo. “Why would you be rushing? It’s only 8am, Jonginnie.”

Jongin takes a shaky breath, grapples for something fun and witty. But in the split second that Kyungsoo rubs his chin again, delicately… _possessively_ … Jongin’s resolution completely crumbles.

“I… I wanted to see you, hyung,” he admits.

“Mmm,” Kyungsoo hums again. His hands travel, squeezing Jongin’s ass. Jongin lets out a breathy whine. “Did you, now?”

Jongin groans, frustrated. “ _Why_ are you so good at that?”

“At what?” Kyungsoo’s eyelashes are so dark as he leans in, stroking Jongin’s cheek sweetly.

“Driving me insane,” Jongin’s back digs into the sink as Kyungsoo pushes him into it, working open kisses along Jongin’s neck, from above his collarbones up to his ear. “You’re awfully, ahh, forward, hyung.”

Kyungsoo chuckles lightly. Jongin can feel his lips moving on his neck as he speaks. “I wanted you the first time I saw you, and I think maybe you did too… I don’t like playing cat and mouse,” he pulls back, and Jongin huffs in disappointment. “Is there a reason you haven’t stopped by my office yet, even after I gave you such an obvious invitation, ages ago?”

“I, um, I’ve been… busy,” Jongin answers, and it’s only a half-lie. Minseok _has_ been keeping him busy. But the truth is, he also just hasn’t worked up the nerve to knock on Kyungsoo’s office door. He has to be Mentally Prepared for Kyungsoo, otherwise he completely melts, just like right now.

“Spend lunch with me,” Kyungsoo says. “Today.” It doesn’t sound much like a request, more like a demand, and that’s what sends a strange shiver up Jongin’s spine.

Oh. _Ohhhh,_ Jongin realizes. He’s into _this_. Specifically. The possessiveness in Kyungsoo’s tiny smirks.

“You want me to… spend lunch with you…” echoes Jongin. “Just us, in your office?”

“Mhm,” Kyungsoo says, nodding. “I’ll feed you well.” Then, he kisses Jongin, quick and sweet, square on the mouth, swiping his tongue, for a split second, against Jongin’s lips.

It’s safe to say that Jongin’s brain is on another planet for the rest of the morning.

❉ ❉ ❉

“Kyungsoo’s not gay,” Minseok says, three hours later in the fourth floor meeting room, sounding _alarmingly_ sure about that statement. “What gave you that idea?”

“Um, just the fact that whenever he sees Jongin, he looks like he’s going to climb him like a tree,” Baekhyun replies airily, not looking up from his laptop screen. The team was spending the morning re-making an interactive prototype to send to development before noon. Jongin doesn’t think he’s seen Baekhyun blink in the last hour.

Minseok contemplates this as Jongin’s head spins. Did the definition of ‘gay’ change recently? Jongin doesn’t really keep up with pop culture these days. “I’ve known Kyungsoo for years. We’re family friends,” Minseok comments. “And I don’t think he’s ever dated a guy before. Also, he recently… damn it—” He clicks at his trackpad furiously, distracted by something crashing on his screen, and Jongin waits and waits and _prays_ Minseok finishes that sentence.

“Even _I’ve_ noticed the whole flirting-with-Jongin thing,” Sehun chuckles. “It’s borderline NSFW.” He’s supposed to be working on creating graphics for the mobile version mock-ups of the website, but Jongin thinks he might just be playing Tetris.

“Oh,” Minseok says. “I mean, he’s always been a straightforward kind of guy.” He shrugs. And then! That’s it! He says nothing else!

Jongin is about to jump in his seat and shake Minseok by the shoulders for more answers, but then Seulgi comes into the meeting room with an update from the development team, and the conversation shifts back to work.

Now Jongin is sexually frustrated _and_ confused.

❉ ❉ ❉

Kyungsoo’s office is on the seventh floor and it’s bigger than he thought it would be. A large white desk, _two_ couches, a coffee table and a window with a decent view of the city overlooking the lakeshore.

Kyungsoo is in his desk chair when Jongin pops his head in. “Come in,” Kyungsoo says, taking his glasses off and closing his laptop. He wears glasses??? For some reason, this is News that Jongin has to process for a second. “You can shut the door.”

Jongin steps inside, leaning back against the door until it clicks closed. He clears his throat. “Should I lock it?”

Kyungsoo stands up. He looks impressed by Jongin’s utter lack of tact. “Whatever you want,” he murmurs, and those words always sound completely sinful when he says them. He pulls back one of the chairs in front of his desk, motioning for Jongin to sit. Another smirk. His eyes run up and down Jongin’s frame.

Jongin’s cheeks burn at the attention. “You did say the door locks… if I were to ever come by,” he repeats, fingers finding the latch and turning it.

“You have a good memory,” Kyungsoo says, lifting an eyebrow. “Have a seat.” He clears his table. Jongin walks over. He’s glad he packed a lunch today. A _real_ one – a well-made sandwich and even a salad. Usually, he goes out to eat with Baekhyun or brings greasy take-out pizza from home. Kyungsoo, with a body like his, would totally judge him for it, Jongin thinks. He probably eats a piece of multigrain toast with kale salad and apple chips for lunch.

But to his surprise, Kyungsoo takes out a container of home-made _kimchi bokkeum-bap_. “Korean food,” Jongin says. “I haven’t eaten real Korean food in so long.”

Kyungsoo smiles, mixing his rice together with his spoon. “My cook is quite good at Korean food,” he says, as if this is a very normal thing for one to have.

“Your cook?” Jongin squeaks out.

“I’m kidding,” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. He takes a small bite, lips curling around his spoon. “I like cooking. Korean food, especially. You should come over, I’ll make you anything you want.”

A large piece of bread gets lodged in Jongin’s windpipe at the sound of yet another open invitation to Kyungsoo’s house. Kyungsoo seems to notice Jongin’s mental breakdown, but doesn’t say anything about it. He offers Jongin his water bottle, which Jongin takes gratefully. Once he’s chugged a good quarter of it, he looks up to find Kyungsoo holding out a spoonful of rice. “Wanna try?” he asks, as if Jongin _wouldn’t_ want to try.

Jongin leans forward and lets Kyungsoo feed him. It tastes amazing, as good as his mother’s. (Maybe even better, because Kyungsoo definitely used butter, which Jongin’s mom never liked adding because she complained that it made the kimchi flavour less strong.)

“It’s really good, hyung,” Jongin grins, taken aback. “I wish I was good at cooking.”

Kyungsoo hums. “I can teach you one day.”

Jongin blushes again at the implication, heart beat racing more than it should. It was kind of ridiculous, how much Jongin likes him. It probably isn’t safe to like him this much. He barely knows him?? And, of course, there’s the ever-looming shadow of Jongin trying to be ~casual~ with someone he wants to like, hold hands with or cook eggs for in the morning. _Jesus Christ_. Minseok did say Kyungsoo isn’t even gay. Whatever _that_ means??

But Kyungsoo’s smirk is being distracting again. Jongin pushes out a smile. “I think I’d like that.”

They chat for a while about work. Jongin asks Kyungsoo how he’s liking the company, and why in the hell he works for a tech company after getting a literature degree from Harvard, of all places. Kyungsoo shares that he’s liking it a lot so far, and that he’s been interested in the tech industry for a while, always kind of feeling that academia wasn’t really for him. He likes that tech is fast-paced and that every day is different. He explains as well that his main side hustle is creative writing, and that he didn’t want a day job that would also be all about writing.

“Otherwise I’d grow crazy,” Kyungsoo says. “I’m actually publishing my first novel soon, though.” He perks up a little. “Oh, hang on. The publishing house just sent me drafts of the book cover. You’re a designer, you should give me your opinion.”

Jongin bites his lip, awkwardly. “Ah, I’m not really a _graphic_ designer, though…”

“That’s okay,” Kyungsoo rolls his chair back a little. “Come, I’ll show you.”

Jongin gets up reluctantly and walks around the desk so that he’s standing beside Kyungsoo’s chair, as the latter logs into his e-mail and opens up a zip file full of illustrations. They shuffle through each one, and Jongin points out the ones he likes best.

“The third version is the one I’d go with, personally. I think the blues and oranges work really well together, and it compliments the typography the most…” Jongin says, focused on the computer monitor, until his brain starts short circuiting because Kyungsoo suddenly has a gentle hand placed on Jongin’s hip. He feels the elder squeezing, ever so slightly, pulling him closer. And Jongin suddenly understands what he’s asking. He wants Jongin to sit… on his lap.

Jongin slowly lowers himself, not breaking eye contact with Kyungsoo until his butt is resting firmly on Kyungsoo’s (extremely plush) thighs. “Is this okay?” Kyungsoo murmurs, resting his chin on Jongin’s shoulder. He’s looking up at Jongin through his thick eyelashes – playful, like always. But more tense than usual. Waiting for the green light. Jongin nods. Kyungsoo presses his lips together. “I’d… like a verbal confirmation, Jongin.”

_Oh_ , Jongin thinks.

He’s probably distracted by the bulge in Kyungsoo’s pants rubbing against his own ass, but Jongin is also feeling bold, realizing how much he wants this, so he turns his neck, and places a shy kiss on Kyungsoo’s cheek, much to the elder’s surprise. “This is more than okay, hyung,” Jongin tells him. For extra reassurance, he scoots further back until he’s leaning onto Kyungsoo’s chest. “Good thing I locked the door, right?”

“Yes, very good,” Kyungsoo chuckles, and then he’s licking his way into Jongin’s pliant mouth, spinning him around in his lap so that Jongin is facing him, then Jongin repositions himself, bracketing Kyungsoo’s waist with his thighs.

Kyungsoo is surprisingly sweet when he kisses. It’s not that Jongin necessarily expects Kyungsoo to be too rough, but he hadn’t been expecting him to be so attentive. He cups Jongin’s face between his hands, rubbing little circles along his cheeks, making Jongin whine breathlessly as Jongin ruts in his lap like a fucking horny high school student. He didn’t know he was capable of feeling _this_ needy and… well, submissive.

After a few minutes, Kyungsoo starts working at Jongin’s neck again. This time, he’s definitely sucking a mark that will be very difficult to hide, but right now, nothing else matters. Jongin lets him. Jongin wants more.

“What is it?” Kyungsoo asks, kissing along Jongin’s jaw when he feels Jongin’s breath grow unsteady.

“I—” Jongin groans, “Will you fuck me?”

Kyungsoo chuckles again, and Jongin feels it vibrate through his whole body. “I’d love to, trust me, but we don’t have enough time,” he says, sounding genuinely apologetic, but Jongin is still disappointed. It’s not enough.

He breaks free from Kyungsoo’s hold, scooting off his lap. “Where are you going?” Kyungsoo asks, amused at first, until he realizes _where_ Jongin is going. On his knees.

Once Jongin is positioned on the floor, he raises an eyebrow and spreads Kyungsoo’s legs. “I want to blow you, hyung. Is that okay?” he says, looking up at Kyungsoo through his bangs. “I’d like verbal confirmation,” he adds, cheekily.

Kyungsoo licks his lips, brushes the hair out of Jongin’s eyes. “Of course,” he answers, tracing a delicate finger over Jongin’s lower lip. “I did say I’d feed you well, didn’t I?”

That’s all Jongin needs to hear before he’s pulling Kyungsoo’s dick out of his slacks and licking at the head. “Fuck,” Kyungsoo curses, tugging at Jongin’s hair, and Jongin hums, pleased that he was finally able to pull a dirty word out of his prim and proper hyung. “You’re, ah, good at this.”

Jongin lets out an innocent laugh. He feels Kyungsoo harden against his tongue. “I haven’t even started yet,” teases Jongin.

Kyungsoo breathes in shakily, but his deep voice turns a shade demanding. In that way Jongin is realizing he Really Likes. “Not that I don’t like the sex eyes, Jongin, but you gotta be quick,” Kyungsoo warns. “Lunch break’s technically over. People will, ahh, start knocking on my door soon.”

“Don’t worry, hyung,” Jongin promises. He kisses down the shaft again. “Will you come on my face?”

Kyungsoo groans. “Fuck,” he says, chest heaving. Jongin watches his eyes roll back in his head. “I—another time, another time. Too messy.”

“I’ll swallow, then,” Jongin says, as he slides his mouth back down Kyungsoo’s cock until the tip hits the back of his throat.

“Jongin, you don’t have to—”

Jongin squeezes his cheeks in, lets his throat go loose so he can take Kyungsoo in even deeper, and when Jongin finally looks up, catching his hyung’s gaze as his own eyes start to water, Kyungsoo pulls Jongin’s hair again. “Jongin, shit, I’m gonna—”

Jongin can’t breathe, but he’s too turned on to care. He sucks harder, relishing the groan that Kyungsoo lets out as he finally orgasms, thrusting through his climax and letting out a wave of low, needy grunts. Jongin almost gags before he manages to steel himself. He stubbornly sucks harder, trying not to smile when he hears Kyungsoo gasp at the wet friction.

“Fuck, fuck, Jongin,” Kyungsoo says, coming down from his high, stroking Jongin’s cheekbone with his thumb again. Jongin is quickly realizing that Kyungsoo’s attention makes him preen like a kitten. That is alarming, but not something he wants to think about right now. “I’m—sensitive…”

Jongin pulls off Kyungsoo’s dick, panting. A line of saliva/come connects his lower lip with Kyungsoo’s shaft, and Kyungsoo chuckles, wiping Jongin’s mouth with a finger. “Was I good, hyung?” he asks eagerly, and even to his own ears, his voice sounds completely fucked. Like, just-swallowed-a-load-of-come fucked. This is bad. Jongin has a design team meeting in approximately ten minutes.

But then, Kyungsoo is smiling down at him, tipping his chin up for another kiss.

“Perfect,” says Kyungsoo. “You are perfect.”

Maybe the sore throat is worth it.

❉ ❉ ❉

“So, uh, the only other change I made—” Jongin half-turns his head to cough into his sleeve as Baekhyun squints his eyes at him, lips pursed, “uh, was swapping out the static hero images. I managed to code some basic animations to replicate the skeleton of the design, but it’ll be smoother, um, once Wendy from the dev team gets back to me.”

“Great.” Minseok pulls the HDMI cord out of Jongin’s laptop, and Jongin quickly sits back down. “Thanks, Jongin. Do you need a cough drop? Sounds like you’re getting a cold.”

“Um,” Jongin blinks. “I’m… okay, thanks.”

After the meeting, he runs to the kitchen to refill his water bottle and chugs the whole thing down. He still tastes Kyungsoo on the roof of his mouth, but he’s okay with that.

❉ ❉ ❉

The following week, Kyungsoo goes to New York, along with Joonmyun, to meet with an investor.

“You’re looking gloomy,” Baekhyun comments on Wednesday morning. Jongin hasn’t talked to Kyungsoo since The Incident in his office. He _is_ feeling gloomy, but nobody needs to know that. He thought he was hiding it better.

“No, I’m not,” he replies, perking up in his chair. He’s been staring at the same Sketch file of low-fidelity wireframes since 9am and hopes Baekhyun hasn’t noticed he’s made next to zero progress.

Baekhyun squints at him. “Then why do you look like there’s a rain cloud above you?” he rolls his chair over to Chanyeol’s desk and pokes his arm. “Hey, doesn’t Jongin have a rain cloud above him?”

Chanyeol peers over from behind his three-screen desk setup, pulling an Airpod out of his Dobby-sized ears. “I think Jongin looks great,” says Chanyeol, smiling obliviously, and Baekhyun rolls his eyes because clearly Chanyeol hadn’t even heard his question.

“Thanks, Chanyeol,” Jongin says, then grimaces at Baekhyun. “Do I actually look gloomy?”

“You’ve been quiet,” Baekhyun replies. “Usually you’re, you know, dancing to music in your chair while you’re working. Or at least joining in on ping pong.”

Jongin sighs, closing his laptop shut, and stands up. “I really am fine,” he says, stretching. He _is_ fine. What’s a few days without seeing Kyungsoo? They aren’t even friends, if Jongin thinks about it. That didn’t warrant a week of sulking. (Sure, he gave him a blowjob but Jongin is pretty sure it was a no-strings-attached kind of blowjob.)

Except Jongin is dumb and he knows he has a _crush_ , and having a crush on someone after sucking their dick was a terrible idea. Having a crush also means he knows he wants to see Kyungsoo even for non-dick-related things, like even if it was just five minutes of him coming over to say hi on the way to his office.

Fuck.

“Round of ping pong before lunch?” he asks Baekhyun, who’s still eyeing him suspiciously. “I really am fine,” Jongin says again, but this time, mostly to himself.

❉ ❉ ❉

Kyungsoo is back by Friday, but even all of the following week, Jongin only catches glimpses of him. He’s tempted to walk by Kyungsoo’s office at least twice a day, but convinces himself that would be way too bothersome. Besides, if Kyungsoo even wanted to talk to Jongin (or had the time), he probably would have by now. So Jongin sucks it up and pretends he isn’t pining like a teenager, and focuses on giving Minseok a fully-functioning prototype of their new app feature before the end of the month.

Working is a good distraction, but sometimes Jongin’s focus gets completely derailed by the dumbest things. Like on Wednesday when Kyungsoo is walking down the hallway with Joonmyun, and Jongin nervously makes eye contact with him, and Kyungsoo smiles without breaking his conversation. Or on Thursday when he comes by the design team’s work area to update Minseok on new changes to the website copy.

Jongin’s heart leaps stupidly as he sneaks glances at Kyungsoo leaning against the edge of Minseok’s desk. For five minutes, Jongin shuffles around the same UI elements on his Sketch file, barely able to focus, especially when Minseok says something inaudible that makes Kyungsoo laugh.

After a little while, Kyungsoo’s phone pings. “Shoot, I gotta run to a meeting. Thanks for the help, though, hyung,” he sighs. “Sorry for all the random updates and short deadlines. It’s crazy trying to transition over all the project management stuff.”

“Of course, don’t even worry about it,” Minseok pats his shoulder in a way that shows how close they actually are. Jongin hates the jealousy pang in his stomach as Kyungsoo smiles gratefully _. A jealousy pang??_ Maybe Jongin just needs to eat lunch.

Baekhyun pulls his headphones off, nosy as ever. “Wait, Kyungsoo, are you taking over as PM or something?”

Chanyeol looks up from his laptop and now even the interns have swiveled around in their chairs. Jongin glances over subtly.

“Ah, yes, actually,” Kyungsoo answers, clutching his laptop against his chest. He’s wearing a dress shirt and slacks, but even without a tie, he stands out so much in their little corner of the office, where the rest of them are in hoodies and jeans. “They’re not announcing it until Monday, technically, but Victoria Song is moving to Facebook and they need a project manager to fill the role until we hire someone new.”

“Damn, Victoria? We’re losing all the best people to Silicon Valley,” Chanyeol complains, as if he isn’t just sad because he kind of had a crush on her.

“We’re in good hands with Kyungsoo,” Minseok assures them. “Back to work, kids.”

Everyone rolls back to their desks. Sehun seems disappointed that nothing more dramatic has happened, and Seulgi laughs as she offers him her other Airpod so they can watch The Office together on Seulgi’s extra monitor while they work.

“Thanks, guys,” Kyungsoo waves, as he walks out of their workspace. Jongin is about to restart his Spotify playlist when he feels a warm hand on his shoulder. He looks up, startled.

“Bye, Jonginnie,” Kyungsoo smiles, and then he’s down the hallway, rounding the corner. It’s a tiny gesture. It’s almost nothing, really. But Jongin feels his skin prickle where Kyungsoo had touched him and he _hates_ the way he can physically feel his mood lifting. Like sunshine breaking through his rain clouds. (Damn it.)

Baekhyun’s grin is so wide, Jongin can see it in his peripheral vision. “You’re on ‘Jonginnie’ terms now?” he wiggles his eyebrows, and Jongin scoffs.

“You all call me that, don’t be dramatic, Baek,” he tries to roll his eyes like he doesn’t care, but it’s hard to act ~nonchalant~ when his heartbeat is drumming in his ears.

“ _I’m_ not the one being dramatic, _you’re_ the one blushing like a teenage girl,” Baekhyun points out. “Is that why you were all weird last week? Because Kyungsoo was in New York?”

Jongin forces a frown. He knows he looks ridiculous. “Of course not, stop talking so loud,” he groans, switching to Korean to try and convey maximum irritation.

“Hang on, is this a _crush_ crush now?” Baekhyun says, leaning back in his chair. Jongin kind of hates that Baekhyun is annoyingly perceptive at extremely inconvenient moments. “I thought it was, you know, nothing serious?”

“It is,” Jongin clears his throat, putting his music back on to tune out the sound of his own (stupid) heart palpitations. “Nothing serious, I mean.”

❉ ❉ ❉

Summer heat comes early. It’s humid in the office the first week of June, while building maintenance fixes the air conditioning. A few days in, Chanyeol has abandoned all attempts at being office-appropriate and shows up to work in a muscle shirt and shorts. It’s probably not a coincidence that shortly after, the girls from Customer Support, who they share a floor with, start walking by their team’s work area more often that week. Baekhyun gets jealous and tells Minseok that Chanyeol needs to be reported to HR, and amidst all the clamour and heat, Jongin is feeling more restless than ever.

On Friday, he decides to knock on Kyungsoo’s door with a Styrofoam container of pizza and Caesar salad.

“We missed you at lunch today,” Jongin says, walking across the room and around Kyungsoo’s desk. It’s hot in Kyungsoo’s office too, but at least he’s cracked a window open. Kyungsoo is still wearing a dress shirt, but he’s undone the top few buttons, low enough for Jongin to see the sweat on his collarbones.

“We?” asks Kyungsoo, hitting ‘send’ on an e-mail and then closing his browser. He looks at Jongin with a bright, steady expression. Jongin likes the way Kyungsoo looks at him – like he gives him so much attention, like he’s really, genuinely happy to see Jongin in his office, bothering him on his lunch break. It shouldn’t make Jongin so giddy, but unfortunately, it does.

“I guess, mostly me,” Jongin amends, handing Kyungsoo the container. Kyungsoo accepts it, smiling faintly, as Jongin hoists himself up onto Kyungsoo’s cluttered desk, careful enough not to wrinkle any of his loose papers. “You’re so much busier now.”

Kyungsoo picks an olive off his pizza slice then takes a small bite. “There have been delays hiring Victoria’s replacement. But when we do, things will lighten up,” he replies. There are dark circles under his eyes, and a furrow to his brows, and Jongin wants to kiss him until he smiles again. But he thinks maybe that’s too soft for whatever fuck-buddy(??) thing they supposedly have. “But it’s not so bad. You’re here delivering me lunch, aren’t you?” He rolls his chair toward Jongin, pushing Jongin’s knees open, and resting his elbows on Jongin’s thighs. “I have more excuses to get you alone…”

Jongin chews his lower lip, pushing the hair out of Kyungsoo’s forehead. “You don’t need any excuses, hyung,” Jongin replies boldly. “Just say the word and I’m here.”

“So cheesy, aren’t you?” Kyungsoo chuckles casually and leans back in his seat. He takes another thoughtful bite of his pizza, licking the crumbs off his lips. “So obedient.” He laughs this time, airily, and not for the first time, Jongin finds himself wishing Kyungsoo could say stuff like this and not be so teasing.

But Kyungsoo doesn’t need to know that. So Jongin laughs too, hooking an ankle around Kyungsoo’s chair leg and rolling him towards himself again. He spreads his knees apart, further. “It’s Friday,” Jongin murmurs, bending down so their mouths are just a breath apart. “Will you let me have some fun before lunch is over?”

Kyungsoo grazes his thumb against Jongin’s chin, cradling his jaw with his palm. “Sometimes, you’re so…” he chuckles again, and his breath on Jongin’s face is hot, “you’re so insatiable and I can’t believe I haven’t fucked you yet.”

(Is that supposed to make Jongin’s heart ~pound~ ??? Because it does and that’s probably not okay. He wishes he could just get a boner and not butterflies.)

Kyungsoo smiles as he pecks Jongin’s lips, and his hand runs up Jongin’s shirt. “Not like I haven’t asked you to already,” Jongin points out, pouting only slightly. He pushes off the desk so he can fall forward into Kyungsoo’s lap.

Kyungsoo’s hand works its way up, past the muscles of Jongin’s stomach, and brushes his nipple. Jongin moans, his head settling into Kyungsoo’s shoulder. He gives a light, tentative lick to the edge of Kyungsoo’s jaw. The pleased noise Kyungsoo makes as Jongin’s tongue hits his skin makes Jongin want to touch him forever. “I want to take my time with you,” Kyungsoo whispers into Jongin’s ear. “Not just bend you over my desk for five minutes and call it a day. You deserve better than that.”

“Five minutes?” Jongin says, rolling his hips so Kyungsoo can feel how hard he is. “You think you’re that good, huh?”

Kyungsoo snakes his hand around Jongin’s waist, squeezing his ass. “I think if I fuck you in the middle of the day, it’s going to be very difficult for me to get any work done,” he kisses the corner of Jongin’s mouth and smirks.

“Is this another invite to your apartment?” asks Jongin. He’s been waiting for Kyungsoo to _actually_ invite him. Every Friday for the past couple months, Jongin has wondered. But every time, Kyungsoo just smiles, kisses him, works his hands up and down Jongin’s body, sometimes into his pants, and says _next time next time_ _still too busy, Jonginnie_.

“Actually yes,” Kyungsoo answers, a pleasant surprise. “I’ll cook you dinner tonight. Finally.”

Jongin laughs, even as his chest kind of squeezes because having Kyungsoo fuck him into his mattress was one thing, but standing in Kyungsoo’s kitchen and watching him smile happily as he cooks is… another thing. The cute-fuzzy-feeling thing Jongin still isn’t sure he can handle.

That doesn’t stop Jongin from saying, “You’re gonna ‘wine and dine’ me? That’s very chivalrous of you.”

“I like being chivalrous,” Kyungsoo says easily, “for you.” And he smirks again, that smirk, that messes up Jongin’s breathing pattern while also reminding him Kyungsoo isn’t really his to keep. Kyungsoo is fun and games. Kyungsoo is ~nothing serious~, as Baekhyun would put it.

“So, is that a yes?”

“Y—” Jongin starts to say, when Kyungsoo’s phone starts ringing. It’s not his work phone, Jongin notices, but his personal one.

There’s no caller ID but Kyungsoo frowns at the number. “Sorry, baby,” Kyungsoo smiles at him apologetically, tapping Jongin’s knee, and Jongin realizes what he’s asking. He pouts and climbs off Kyungsoo’s lap. “I have to take this. It’ll be quick.”

“It’s okay,” Jongin replies, trying not to sound as sullen as he feels. “I’ll give you some space.”

“No, stay,” Kyungsoo says hastily, catching Jongin’s hand, squeezing lightly before letting go. “Lunch isn’t over yet, right?”

“O-okay,” Jongin says, and he walks across the room, plopping onto the couch by the window to try and catch the breeze from outside.

He tries not to eavesdrop. He really does. But the tone in Kyungsoo’s voice when he picks up the call isn’t like anything Jongin’s ever heard before. He’s speaking in Korean, sometimes too low for Jongin to hear.

“I’m at _work_ , Luna,” Kyungsoo says, tersely. “I can’t drop it off… I told you I’ll mail it when I get the chance, I’ve just been busy—yeah, I know you’re busy too… Let’s please not make this a whole thing. I don’t want to argue with you. I’ll just… fine, yeah. I’ll do it first thing after work today.”

There’s a long, long pause. Jongin thinks the phone call is over, but then Kyungsoo continues, “Right. Okay. Yeah, I’ll… pick you up before the wedding.” Kyungsoo is turned around in his chair and Jongin can’t see his face.

Jongin stands up from the couch, staring out at the view as Kyungsoo wraps up his call. It really is a nice view. In the summer, the lake shimmers and the days are longer and it’s really beautiful outside. Kyungsoo said his apartment was along the lakeshore. Maybe one of those tall, expensive condos in the distance is one of his.

“Yeah. I’ll see you soon,” Kyungsoo sighs into the phone.

Jongin could find out today. What Kyungsoo’s apartment looks like. If it’s as fancy and clean as he imagines it to be. If his bedroom smells like his sharp, minty cologne.

But maybe… maybe he shouldn’t. Maybe he should save it for another day when it’s easier, again, for him to pretend like he doesn’t secretly want to hold Kyungsoo’s hand and smile at him over a home-cooked dinner.

“I’m heading out, hyung,” Jongin says, once Kyungsoo’s hung up. “Minseok just messaged me on Slack, and he wants to steal the last ten minutes of my lunch break to fix some usability issue on a mock-up.”

It’s an easy lie, and Kyungsoo looks surprised, but not disbelieving. “Oh, sure, of course,” he says. “Thank you for lunch, Jonginnie.”

“Anytime,” Jongin replies, making a beeline for the door.

“And about my invitation…”

Jongin pulls the door open, back into the stale heat of the office. He’s feeling warm, a little heady, but he tells himself it’s just the stuffy, summer humidity and when the air conditioning is back, he’ll feel normal again.

“Maybe another week,” Jongin replies.

❉ ❉ ❉

“Where were you?” Baekhyun asks.

“Kyungsoo’s office.”

“Ohhh~”

“Not ‘ohh~’. I just dropped off some lunch since he’s busy working. That’s it.”

“Oh.” Baekhyun pouts at his laptop. He’s writing Seulgi’s May performance evaluation, and Jongin sees he’s given her 5/5 on everything. “I was hoping for something juicier to distract me from Mr. _I-have-huge-biceps_ over there.” He gestures vaguely behind him at Chanyeol, who’s hovering next to Minseok as Minseok inspects his work.

Jongin contemplates asking Minseok if he knows anything about a wedding, but like most things that involve Kyungsoo, at the end of the day, it’s none of Jongin’s business.

❉ ❉ ❉

Minseok corners him in the kitchen on a Monday morning as Jongin is deciding which caffeinated beverage he needs to get through the day.

“Are you and Kyungsoo fighting?”

Jongin pulls an earbud out of his ear. “What?”

Minseok leans against the coffee machine. “He’s been brooding lately,” he clarifies.

Jongin places his mug under the little spout, staring at each blinking button. “I think he’s just stressed about work,” he says, deciding on a vanilla latte.

“It’s not work-stress. Kyungsoo’s really compartmental about his life. His work-stress never really affects his general mood. He’s always been like that. I’m pretty sure that’s what got him into Harvard,” Minseok scoffs. “But he is definitely brooding over _something_.”

Jongin pulls his mug out, blowing on the steam. “What does that have to do with me?”

Minseok opens the cupboard above the machine and grabs a fresh mug, bumping Jongin’s hip lightly to get him to move. “He’s attached to you. He doesn’t usually get attached to anyone,” he replies. “I would know. He dated my cousin for two whole years, and even then, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so… smile-y.”

“Oh,” Jongin frowns at his latte. There’s too much foam. “Well, I still don’t... see what this has to do with me.”

Minseok chuckles softly. He selects an americano on the coffee machine and gives Jongin one of those smiles like he knows something that Jongin doesn’t. “That was my long-winded way of saying I think you make Kyungsoo smile-y and he is much better that way,” he says. “But now he’s back to being vaguely aloof and kind of moody. It’s weird.” He taps his finger against the handle of his mug. “It’d be nice if he gets back to normal soon. You know, his older brother is getting married next month and it’ll look really bad in the wedding photos if he’s scowling.” Minseok laughs, as Jongin’s head spins with questions.

“I don’t think Kyungsoo and I are close enough for me to have that kind of impact on him,” Jongin answers. It’s the truth, anyways. He also hasn’t seen or spoken to Kyungsoo in over a week, not since the last time he visited his office and unintentionally eavesdropped on a very personal conversation with… a girlfriend? With someone.

“Really?” For some reason, Minseok looks surprised.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Well,” Minseok pauses, sipping his coffee, “I was under the impression that you guys were, I don’t know, dating or something.”

Jongin blinks at him. “ _Dating?_ ”

“Baekhyun said he flirts with you. Which is true,” Minseok shrugs. “At first, I thought Baekhyun was being dramatic, but clearly, he wasn’t.”

“We’re… not dating, hyung,” Jongin replies, mumbling into his latte. “Also, you said he wasn’t gay so…”

Minseok snorts a little, like he’s trying not to laugh. “Oh, I just meant, he’s never dated a guy before. To the best of my knowledge,” he says. “But Kyungsoo’s always been mysterious. I don’t know his life.” He grins at Jongin, patting his shoulder in one of his dad-like habits. “What I do know is he’s being weird lately and you’re probably the only one in the office who can fix it. At least try?”

❉ ❉ ❉

Jongin finds Kyungsoo in the Starbucks on the ground-floor of their building. He’s ordering his drink, and Jongin gets to him just in time to hand the cashier his card.

“You didn’t have to pay for me, Jongin,” Kyungsoo says, once Jongin comes back from the counter with a black coffee and a hot chocolate with whipped cream. “I’m the hyung, I should be treating you.”

Jongin hands him his coffee. “It’s okay,” he shrugs. “I never thanked you for driving me all the way home that one day.”

Kyungsoo pops the lid off his cup. “What? That was months ago.”

“Yeah, but it meant a lot to me.” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow at that. Jongin ducks his head. “Sorry.”

“Sorry?” repeats Kyungsoo, lips quirking. “For what?”

Jongin stares down at the table. Kyungsoo’s hands are small, he notices. His fingers are slim and pretty, and Jongin has some dirty thoughts about where he’d like those fingers to be on his body, but mostly, he just wants to hold them. Damn it. “That was too… sappy,” Jongin says, blushing.

“I like it when you’re sappy,” Kyungsoo interjects.

“You do?” Jongin blinks.

“Yeah. It’s cute. Why wouldn’t I?” He’s wearing a thin, white long-sleeve today and his hair looks so soft and fluffy. It falls into his eyes a bit when he looks up at Jongin through his eyelashes.

“Minseok told me you’ve been moody lately,” Jongin murmurs. “For _some_ reason, he thinks it has something to do with me. He thinks we’re…” He licks at the cream swirl on his hot chocolate and he can feel his face burning. Maybe he should have ordered something colder. “Um, well, ah, anyways, I told him we’re not like that. But I thought I’d ask if you were okay, anyways.”

Kyungsoo tilts his head to the side, pursing his lips. “I thought we _were_ like that.”

“I’m—what?”

Kyungsoo reaches across the table, swiping at Jongin’s upper lip and licking the whipped cream off his thumb. Jongin watches him steadily, wide-eyed. “You know, I was really confused that day. When you left my office so quickly and then… you seemed like you didn’t want to come over to my apartment,” Kyungsoo says, and he’s looking at Jongin shyly now. “Suddenly, I was worried I’d pressured you too much. Scared you away or something.”

Jongin almost wants to laugh, because if he remembers correctly, _he_ was the one who’s literally asked Kyungsoo (explicitly) to fuck him. And now _Kyungsoo_ is the one looking embarrassed. “Hyung, _no_. That’s not—” Ugh, words. “Baekhyun says I overthink things,” he grumbles, cradling his cup tightly with both hands. “And maybe I do because I’m not good at… being casual. It was okay in the beginning because you were flirty and pretty and I just felt special, having your attention. But then I-I realized the things I want from you, hyung…” He runs his tongue along the roof of his mouth, tasting the cream and sugar. “I don’t think I can do ‘casual’ with you. Because, honestly, I like you. Um. A lot. Probably too much.”

He takes a long sip of his cocoa. It’s probably not good to try and chug a hot beverage in the middle of June, but Jongin needs to do _something_ to calm his nerves. He chances a glance at Kyungsoo, and the older man is staring back at him, looking startled and confused.

“Jonginnie,” he says on an exhale, shaking his head. “If I wanted ‘casual’ with you, I would have slept with you a long time ago.” He rests his hand over Jongin’s wrist. “I wouldn’t drive an hour west into the suburbs just to make sure you get home without getting sick.” He pulls Jongin’s hand away from his cup and laces their fingers together. “I definitely wouldn’t invite you to my apartment and offer to cook you a nice dinner.”

Jongin blinks at their fingers. Processing this New Information. “Oh.”

“I thought I was obvious,” Kyungsoo says. The tips of his ears are pink. He’s blushing. Jongin made him blush. _Oh._ “You think all of that was, what? Some kind of chivalrous foreplay?”

Honestly, yes. That is exactly what Jongin thought.

“Hyung. You’re saying you want me?” Jongin asks urgently. It’s like there’s a balloon in Jongin’s chest that’s been inflating slowly, slowly, slowly, and it’s finally been popped and Jongin can breathe again. He feels weightless. He feels giddy. And he doesn’t even care how absolutely, embarrassingly whipped he sounds. “You want me, like I want you. In a boyfriend-way?” He needs to hear it. He needs to know it’s not his imagination.

Kyungsoo chuckles. “Yes, Jongin,” he murmurs. “To use your words, I want you a lot. In a boyfriend-way. I want you in every single way I can have you.” He tugs Jongin’s hand gently, to pull him closer. The table they’re sitting at isn’t very big. It’s small enough that when Kyungsoo leans forward, their knees bump and their ankles lock together. “I’m sorry I wasn’t clearer about that.”

Jongin closes the rest of the distance between them, kissing the edge of Kyungsoo’s heart-shaped smile. It’s five-thirty on a work day and the Starbucks is way too busy, but Jongin doesn’t care. The kiss makes Kyungsoo’s smile widen into a grin, and Jongin agrees with Minseok – Kyungsoo is much better when he’s smile-y. Even better when he’s looking at Jongin like he’s the only person in the whole world. “So, does that mean you’ll come over now if I invite you again?”

❉ ❉ ❉

Kyungsoo’s apartment isn’t quite as Jongin had expected. It’s clean and organized and looks like every piece of furniture is dusted every hour, but it’s also more colourful and cozier than he imagined. There are art pieces on the wall and magnets from all over America on his fridge and mismatched throw pillows on the couch in front of the TV.

On Jongin’s first night, Kyungsoo makes _bibimbap_ and miso soup, while Jongin mostly watches from over his shoulder, diligently following easy instructions like when to put add the tofu into the pot or how much sesame oil to cook the veggies in.

A few weeks later, and Jongin is much more in tune with Kyungsoo’s cooking habits. They’re making chicken cutlet and Jongin is having fun smashing the chicken breasts with a hammer. Kyungsoo scolds him for not being careful, smacking Jongin’s hip as he fights a smile.

“You’re going to smash your fingers, dummy,” Kyungsoo mutters as he plops the chicken into a bowl of egg wash and then the bread crumbs. “Come help me coat these.”

“Yes, sir,” Jongin says, grinning, as he plants a kiss on Kyungsoo’s cheek. “I’ll be on my best behaviour.”

Kyungsoo hums, looking up at Jongin through his long, long eyelashes. “Really? I’ll reward you for good behaviour.” He says it harmlessly enough, but Jongin can feel the heat stirring in his gut anyways.

He rubs the bread crumbs into the chicken, making sure it’s fully coated so it’ll be extra crispy when they fry it. “Anything for you, hyung,” he replies, and Kyungsoo’s answering chuckle is low and teasing.

The thing is, Kyungsoo has been taking it slow all of a sudden, as if somehow convinced he needs to be his gentleman-self _all_ the time now. It’s nice, Jongin thinks, that Kyungsoo is serious about… the ~boyfriend~ thing. But it’s also kind of painful. Whenever they’re eating ice cream on the couch after dinner, and Jongin is licking into Kyungsoo’s mouth, clambering into his lap, pulling up his shirt, Kyungsoo stops him before it gets much farther.

“You’re gonna make me come, Jonginnie,” Kyungsoo would mutter breathlessly, and Jongin wants to _scream_ because that was kind of the whole point (!!!)

But Jongin could wait. He’ll wait as long as he has to because Kyungsoo is ~his~ now and he likes waking up to him. He likes cooking with him, eating with him, laying his head in Kyungsoo’s lap and watching dumb reality TV with him.

(He could wait. But he hopes, prays, he doesn’t have to wait _that_ long.)

Kyungsoo is extra-flirty tonight, though. He pats Jongin’s butt as Jongin is standing by the stove, frying the cutlets, smiling innocently as Jongin gets flustered. And when Jongin comes up beside him to taste test the tonkatsu sauce Kyungsoo is mixing, Kyungsoo leans over to lick the leftover sauce right off of Jongin’s lips. As they eat, he rubs a socked-foot up and down Jongin’s ankle, and Jongin _barely_ makes it through a story about his day at work.

As Kyungsoo starts running the dishwasher, Jongin goes into his bedroom to shower. He’s left a few spare changes of clothes in Kyungsoo’s closet by now but when he goes to look for it, it’s not there anymore. Kyungsoo tells him he’d moved them into the dresser the other day while he was cleaning.

Sure enough, Jongin finds his sweatpants in the bottom drawer, but then, something else catches his eye. A container, a little bit bigger than a shoebox, with ‘ _Luna’_ scrawled across the lid in black sharpie.

“Did you find—” Kyungsoo peers into the bedroom, looking at Jongin and then at the box.

Jongin closes the drawer slowly, holding up his sweats. “Yeah, I found them,” he says, smiling softly. He backs up towards the bathroom, pulling his shirt off. “Are you… joining me? For a shower?”

Kyungsoo steps through the doorway, ruffling his hair. It’s still falling into his eyes too much, brushing the tips of his lashes, and Jongin thinks he needs a haircut. “I’m sorry, that’s my ex-girlfriend’s stuff. I still haven’t, ah, mailed it back to her. I really just keep forgetting.” He studies Jongin’s face carefully, and Jongin tries to steel his expression. He’s really never been good at hiding his feelings. Kyungsoo can probably tell.

“Your ex… Minseok-hyung’s cousin.”

“Oh. Yeah. How’d you know?”

Jongin waves his hand vaguely. “He mentioned it.”

Kyungsoo nods. “We broke up a little after I started at the company,” he steps forward, close enough for Jongin to touch him. If he wanted to. “A month or so before I met you.”

“Do you…” Jongin shouldn’t pout, but he does, and Kyungsoo’s expression is warm like melted honey. “Do you still have feelings for her?”

“No,” Kyungsoo says firmly. “No, not at all. We dated for a long time, and our families are so close… it was hard breaking up with her. But not because I still liked her.” He reaches out, touching Jongin’s bicep. His fingers are slightly cool and wet, probably from washing dishes. It doesn’t stop the bloom of warmth Jongin feels in his chest. “I’d spent a very long time trying to convince myself I loved her, just because it was comfortable.”

“But you’re going to your brother’s wedding with her still,” Jongin mumbles, slinging a hand around Kyungsoo’s waist so hopefully he doesn’t sound so upset about it.

Kyungsoo scoffs quietly. His breath grazes Jongin’s bare collarbones. “Minseok talks a lot about me, huh?”

“Not really. I just filled in the gaps,” Jongin replies. He strokes his hand down Kyungsoo’s back, stopping just above the waistband of his jeans. Kyungsoo tilts his head at him, and Jongin flushes and looks at the carpet. It’s not like he’d meant to know so much secret information about him. It’s just… “I spend, um, a lot of time thinking about you.”

Kyungsoo relaxes under Jongin’s touch. Then he presses a hand to Jongin’s cheek and Jongin turns to look at him, square in his dark eyes. “You know, sometimes you say things…” Kyungsoo smiles, tenderly, “and I can’t believe you’re real, Kim Jongin.”

Jongin pulls his upper lip between his teeth. There goes that floaty feeling in his stomach again. His brain-to-mouth filter is malfunctioning under the weight of Kyungsoo’s full attention. “I-I only say what’s true, hyung.”

“Yeah, and I kind of love you for it,” Kyungsoo chuckles as Jongin’s ears ring with the word _love love love love???_ in Kyungsoo’s rich, velvety voice. “Luna and I are going as friends to the wedding. Really. Just friends.” He wraps his arms around Jongin’s neck and pulls him forward until their chests are touching. “I want to bring you, Jongin. I do. As my date. But family is a complicated thing—”

“I know, hyung,” Jongin cuts him off, shaking his head. He doesn’t care about that, he only cares that Kyungsoo is his and that Kyungsoo wants him and that’s enough for Jongin. “Don’t worry. It’s okay.” He smiles, kissing Kyungsoo shyly so he knows Jongin means it.

That makes Kyungsoo blush again and Jongin feels like he’s run a marathon and finished in first place. He wonders if Kyungsoo can feel his heart pounding through his chest. “My parents know I’m seeing a guy right now, but it’s still something they’re processing,” Kyungsoo says, pressing his thumbs into Jongin’s hipbones. “They’ll come around. And when they do, I’ll be really, really excited to introduce you to them.”

Jongin nods, even as his head kind of spins because Kyungsoo is thinking about them. In the future. In a future where they’re ~serious~ and Jongin will meet his family. He might pass out. “Send me a picture of you in your tux, hyung, and that’ll be enough for me,” he replies, grinning.

They fall asleep wordlessly that night. No roaming hands or stray kisses. But Jongin can hear Kyungsoo’s soft, even breathing as he holds Jongin against his chest. And Jongin falls into a deep, peaceful, happy sleep.

❉ ❉ ❉

Kyungsoo does send Jongin a picture in his tux. Two of them, in fact. The first one is a mirror selfie in a fancy-looking bathroom with a chaise lounge chair in the background and marble countertops, and Minseok is beside him resting an arm on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, holding up a cute peace sign. In the second photo, Kyungsoo is leaning against the railing of a pretty gazebo, alone this time, grinning off to the side with the sunlight catching all the right angles of his handsome face.

“You look like a tomato,” Sehun says, kicking his feet up onto Baekhyun’s desk. With Minseok away at the wedding today, Baekhyun is in charge, which means the team has half-descended into chaos. He and Chanyeol have been playing ping pong since lunch time and Sehun’s had his phone open to a Twitch stream of Animal Crossing all day, with Seulgi scolding him every hour to stop slacking off.

Jongin has mostly been doing work. But the pictures of his pretty boyfriend are, admittedly, hindering his productivity. “I am not a tomato, Sehun,” Jongin smacks his feet, and Sehun moves his stupidly long legs off of Baekhyun’s keyboard.

“I didn’t say you were, I said you _look_ like one,” he laughs, peeking at Jongin’s phone. “Have you been staring at that photo of Kyungsoo-hyung all day?”

“No,” Jongin frowns, wondering when and how Sehun entered ‘hyung’ levels of comfort with Kyungsoo. (Jongin has been staring at the photo _most_ of the day, but not the whole day.) “You should get back to work. I know Chanyeol is a pushover and is going to give you a really good performance eval anyways, but I will not hesitate to roast you.”

Sehun sniffs, rolling his eyes. “At least _I’m_ not the one dating my boss,” he mutters and stands up from Baekhyun’s desk.

Jongin makes a noise of protest. “Kyungsoo-hyung is _not_ our boss!”

There’s a glint in Sehun’s eye as he pats Jongin’s shoulder, and Jongin does not deserve to have his shoulder patted like that by an intern. “Tell that to HR,” Sehun chuckles.

❉ ❉ ❉

Jongin gets to Kyungsoo’s apartment first. It’s just past six and Kyungsoo won’t be home for a while, so Jongin orders takeout and watches Netflix until he’s sleepy. As soon as he flops into Kyungsoo’s bed, though, he is wide awake. An ~idea~ pops into his head.

He grabs his phone, staring at that picture of Kyungsoo again, smiling by the gazebo. Jongin thinks it’s unfair that he’s that handsome and a part of Jongin does wish he could have been there, clinging to Kyungsoo’s arm and stealing kisses. He’s been thinking about Kyungsoo all day and he hopes Kyungsoo has been thinking about him, too.

Only one way to know for sure.

Jongin works his hand into his boxers, thinking about Kyungsoo’s smile, his lips, his eyes, the way his breath feels on Jongin’s neck when he whispers Jongin’s name. It’s enough to get Jongin hard, and once his dick is standing up, Jongin sighs, and lifts his shirt up just enough to catch the edge of his abs and the trail of hair that disappears into the waistband of his underwear.

He snaps a photo, sending it to Kyungsoo before he can talk himself out of it.

Five minutes later, Kyungsoo has read the message and Jongin holds his breath. He holds his breath for a very long time, because it takes Kyungsoo a very long time to reply. Each passing second is a slice to Jongin’s gut because, _shit shit shit_ , was that a bad idea??? Did Kyungsoo actually think that was kind of gross?? Is he going to break up with Jongin before Jongin even gets to ride his dick—?

_Now is not the time to be giving me a boner, baby,_ Kyungsoo messages back in perfect grammar. (How can he be sexting Jongin in perfect grammar? Jongin is going to go crazy.)

He grins down at his phone and wriggles out of his boxers completely. _i miss u, hyung_ , he quickly types back. _i can’t sleep. thinking about u._ And then he sends Kyungsoo an ~unclothed~ photo of his dick and he’s way too horny to feel even a little bit nervous.

_I’m currently sitting between my mother and my ex-girlfriend,_ Kyungsoo replies, not a minute later, and Jongin bursts into laughter. _You really are the death of me, Jongin._

_hyung if im loud enough will u hear me say ur name when i come?_ ♡ Jongin fists his dick, watching Kyungsoo type, re-type, then type again. He wonders if Kyungsoo is flustered. Did Kyungsoo ever get flustered? He’d pay to know what his face looks like right now.

It’s a while before Kyungsoo answers. Jongin feels the heat coiling in his dick and rolls over, nuzzling his nose into Kyungsoo’s pillow. It smells like his body wash and shampoo, and a little bit like Jongin’s own cologne, and when Jongin closes his eyes, he imagines his hand is Kyungsoo’s.

He comes with a groan, Kyungsoo’s name spilling through his lips, just as a new message pops up on his phone.

_I’ll be home in an hour,_ Kyungsoo texts. _Wait for me._

Jongin is naked and tired and sticky, but he smiles as his eyes flutter shut.

❉ ❉ ❉

When he wakes up, it’s to the sound of the bedroom door shutting closed. Jongin sits up, bedsheets crumpled around his legs, and looks at Kyungsoo through bleary eyes.

“Hyung,” Jongin croaks. He’s thirsty, or maybe it’s just the sight of Kyungsoo standing at the end of the bed, looking down at Jongin with his lips parted and his pupils blown and wow he looks (extra) hot like this. “How was the wedding?” asks Jongin.

“Not as fun as it should’ve been,” Kyungsoo says quietly, pulling his bowtie loose. He shrugs the suit jacket off, tossing it onto his dresser, and Jongin watches his fingers undo the top buttons of his white dress shirt. He’s so handsome and Jongin feels his heart clench. It’s a nice ~heart clench~ this time. Happy. Kyungsoo licks his lips. Possessive. “I was thinking about you.”

“Thinking about me?” Jongin says, and he’s trying to go for hot and sexy, like how Baekhyun tells him to talk to cute bartenders when they go clubbing. But then his voice cracks, and maybe it’s not that hot and sexy, but the way Kyungsoo’s eyebrow raises is enough for Jongin. “What were you thinking of, exactly?”

Kyungsoo crawls towards him, tugging the bedsheet off, and sliding a hand down Jongin’s chest. He stops at Jongin’s navel, rubbing circles softly into the spot just above Jongin’s (semi-hard) dick. “How much I want you, baby,” he says in That(!!) lower register of his voice that drives Jongin up a wall.

“You already have me, hyung,” Jongin whispers as Kyungsoo pushes him into the bed, positioning himself over him. Their dicks brush as they make out and it’s really not fair that Jongin is getting very, very hard even though he’d already rubbed out an orgasm just an hour ago. “You smell like perfume,” Jongin says between wet kisses, as Kyungsoo runs an open palm up Jongin’s thigh. “Expensive women’s perfume.”

Kyungsoo detaches his mouth from Jongin’s neck just long enough to undo the rest of the buttons on his shirt. Jongin reaches down and unzips his pants for him. “Trust me, I won’t smell like that after I’m done with you,” he says gruffly, tugging his pants down with his underwear. And _oh_ , he is hard. He’s hard, just as much as Jongin is, and there’s a hungry glint in his eyes. “Don’t worry, Jonginnie. I’m going to take really good care of you.”

“I know you will,” Jongin says breathlessly, licking his way through Kyungsoo’s parted mouth, and nibbling his lip. Kyungsoo breaks away to pull open the drawer of his bedside table, grabbing a condom and a bottle of lube. Jongin gulps.

“You’re not a virgin, are you, Jongin?” Kyungsoo smirks, as he rips the condom wrapper open. Jongin watches him roll the condom down his cock, quick and practiced.

“No,” replies Jongin, and he hopes he sounds convincing. He’s not a virgin, but his last boyfriend was all the way in university. And his last little romp was almost a year ago now. “But it’s, um, been a while.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t seem the least bit put off by this. “So you’ll be tight,” he says, matter-of-factly, and the quirk of his eyebrow is so stupid hot that Jongin thinks his dick twitches. “That’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”

Jongin wants to know, exactly, how many times Kyungsoo has fingered a man’s asshole open because he’s kind of really good at it, kissing Jongin as he squirms and moans at the stretch. “Are you ready for another finger?” he asks sweetly, and Jongin squeezes his eyes shut and nods. Four fingers later, Kyungsoo has him begging for more.

“I’m, ahhh—ready, hyung,” Jongin groans. He’s scared he’s going to come just from this. Just from Kyungsoo’s fingers in his hole and his eyelashes fluttering against Jongin’s cheeks as he kisses him. “I’m ready.”

Kyungsoo sits up, spreads Jongin’s legs apart, placing a kiss onto Jongin’s inner thigh. “You set the pace, Jonginnie,” he murmurs, and lines his dick up with Jongin’s entrance. “You can tell me to stop, whenever.”

Jongin wants to tell him that he can’t ever imagine wanting Kyungsoo to stop, but the words die in his throat as Kyungsoo pushes all the way in, thrusting slowly as he waits for Jongin to adjust.

“Faster, faster,” Jongin cries. “Please, hyung, I— harder, more—”

“Are you sure?” Kyungsoo says, licking one of Jongin’s pert nipples.

“ _Yes_ ,” Jongin begs between breathless pants. “Please.”

Kyungsoo lifts Jongin’s leg up and over his shoulder. The new angle has Jongin seeing stars. “Please what?” he prompts, sounding infuriatingly patient.

Jongin bites his lip and groans. “Please fuck me harder, hyung.”

“Good,” Kyungsoo grunts, and then he quickens his pace – fast, hard thrusts that make Jongin’s eyes roll back into his head. He moans embarrassingly, porn-star loud every time Kyungsoo hits his prostate, the sound of their skin slapping together in an even rhythm.

Jongin comes for the second time that night, this time with Kyungsoo’s tongue sucking on his neck and a hand on Jongin’s dick. He spills in hot stripes through Kyungsoo’s deft fingers, and in his post-orgasm haze, he licks at the shell of Kyungsoo’s ear, whispering, “Come for me, hyung,” and Kyungsoo is tipping over the edge not a minute later, moaning Jongin’s name, spilling into the condom.

He falls on top of Jongin with a groan, and when Jongin nuzzles into his chest, he realizes Kyungsoo was right – he doesn’t smell at all like perfume anymore. Just Jongin’s shampoo, a little like latex and salty sweat.

“I think I’ll be limping tomorrow,” Jongin says sleepily, wrapping an arm around Kyungsoo’s waist. Kyungsoo pulls the condom off his softening dick, tying it, and tossing it into his waste bin.

“Was it worth the wait?” he asks gently, wiping the hair out of Jongin’s eyes.

“Mmhm,” Jongin hums. “Much better than any of my fantasies.”

Kyungsoo chuckles, and that sound – maybe even more than his moans – is what makes Jongin’s heart bubble over. And before he falls asleep all he can think is that this floating feeling, like he’s flying above the world, feels nothing like skiing.

❉ ❉ ❉

**♡** **Bonus Scene** **♡**

As it turns out, it actually _is_ company policy to report junior/senior relationships and Kyungsoo is a stickler for the rules. (Also, Jongin admits, he knows he isn’t subtle about visiting Kyungsoo’s office or keeping his hands to himself, so Kyungsoo tells him it’ll be better this way.)

Still, it’s a little embarrassing, sitting there in front of Tiffany Hwang – head of HR – as she types their information into her computer, manicured nails clacking against her keyboard. Jongin’s face is burning, but Kyungsoo doesn’t look nearly as put out. His face is blank, almost expressionless, as he answers Tiffany’s questions.

“And do you guys live together?” she asks. She has that LA accent that makes it hard for Jongin to tell if she’s silently judging them or if the drawl in her voice is just how she speaks.

“Officially, no, but unofficially yes,” says Kyungsoo, easily.

Jongin pouts. “Why do you guys need to know that?” he grumbles, and Kyungsoo just pats his knee.

“Just for taxes,” Tiffany replies casually and Jongin wonders how many people in this office are dating their superiors, direct or not. “Okay, so, Kyungsoo isn’t your manager or anything so there’s not much to say. But from now on, he’s just not allowed to submit performance evals for you, Jongin. Formally or informally.” She folds her hands on her desk. “He’ll also have reduced contact with the design team, mostly just with Minseok, if possible. And…” she sighs heavily, “maybe just keep low on the PDA? As a general rule. Kyungsoo _is_ still an executive, after all. People are weird about office romances, so just, you know, keep it low key.” She eyes Kyungsoo’s hand on Jongin’s knee with a placid expression, but there’s a warning on the tips of her smile. “So that’s it. You’re free to go.”

As they’re waiting for the elevators, Kyungsoo typing an e-mail out on his phone, Jongin grins and kisses his cheek.

“Behave, Jonginnie,” Kyungsoo mutters, but his ears are pink so Jongin considers that a win. “No PDA, remember?”

Jongin shrugs. “Sorry,” he says, though he doesn’t feel very sorry at all. Because now he can kiss Kyungsoo whenever he feels like. (Well, almost. When there’s no one around, at least. But that’s okay. Because it’s in a ~boyfriend~ way. And that is almost better than getting to just suck his dick sometimes.)

“You’re coming to the fourth floor?” Jongin asks, when he notices Kyungsoo hasn’t pushed the button for his own floor.

“Yeah, need to talk to Minseok about something.”

“That’s not an excuse just to hang out with me longer, right?” Jongin chuckles, hooking an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

Kyungsoo makes an unamused face and pokes Jongin’s cheek. “I don’t need an excuse to see you, Jongin. As you’ve said yourself.”

Jongin laughs and the elevator doors slide open. He’s still holding Kyungsoo against him as they walk out, and he tries not to be too pouty when Kyungsoo shrugs out of his touch as they walk towards the design team’s work area.

Wendy is sitting next to Minseok with her laptop open. “Oh, Kyungsoo-oppa,” she says brightly. “Right on time. I need you to check the brand tone on the new gamification screens.” She grabs an empty desk chair and pats it for him to sit. Jongin’s eye twitches. He thinks Baekhyun’s chuckling beside him but he doesn’t care.

“I’m always on time,” Kyungsoo says, sitting down. He leans into her to get a better look at her laptop. “Can you send me screenshots of these? I’ll work on it later with Marketing.”

Minseok looks at his watch, and then smiles cheekily. “You’re actually three minutes late,” he teases. “That’s a first.”

“Blame Jongin,” Kyungsoo sighs, and Jongin freezes as he puts an earbud in and pretends he can’t hear them. Even with his back turned, he feels the weight of everyone’s eyes boring into him. “He forgot to set an alarm last night.”

Wendy rests her chin into her hand, eyebrows furrowing. “Oh. You guys are… roommates?” she wonders aloud.

Baekhyun bursts into a laugh, loud enough that Jongin thinks the whole floor can hear him. Chanyeol, at least, hides his laugh in a cough as Sehun and Seulgi conveniently disappear behind their monitors. Even Minseok is biting a grin back. Jongin punches Baekhyun’s thigh, and then sneaks a glance at Kyungsoo, who’s too focused on reading something on Minseok’s screen to apparently have heard her.

“We’re—” Jongin pouts again, thinking about Tiffany and her scary HR warning to keep it ~low key~ or whatever. He’s not sure this is the kind of thing that would actually get either of them fired, but he’s not willing to find out. “Something like that,” Jongin mumbles as Wendy looks extremely confused. He turns his monitor on, loads all the files he needs to work on for the day, and stares at his screen resolutely, instead of focusing on Wendy’s hand lingering for a second too long on Kyungsoo’s arm when she tells a joke.

“Hey, puppy, don’t bite,” Baekhyun rolls his eyes at him, ruffling his hair in what Jongin assumes is a comforting gesture. “She’s like that with everyone.”

Jongin fixes his expression and sinks into his chair. If he is going to date someone like Kyungsoo, he just had to get used to this.

After a few minutes, it seems like their meeting is over. Kyungsoo pauses abruptly at Jongin’s desk on his way out. Wendy stops beside him, waiting.

He brushes Jongin’s arm lightly, and Jongin looks up. “Oh. What’s up, hyung?” he asks, staring at Kyungsoo’s hand and then looking away because Wendy is watching them.

“I have a late meeting today,” Kyungsoo replies and Jongin expects him to move his hand but it’s still there. “It ends at six. Will you wait for me?”

Jongin nods so hard he thinks his hair bounces. Damn it. He wonders if this whole pretending-to-be-nonchalant-around-Kyungsoo thing will ever get easier. “O-of course,” he says.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo smiles. “See you later, then.” And then he seems to hesitate half a second, before he leans down and kisses the top of Jongin’s head. It’s gentle, quick, a barely-there press of lips against his hair, but Jongin’s whole body jolts like a shock of electricity and he has never ever _ever_ been happier that maybe Kyungsoo isn’t _that_ much a stickler for office etiquette, after all.

“Um. Okay. Bye, hyung,” Jongin says, with all the eloquence of a jellyfish, and Kyungsoo gives him a little smirk as Wendy gapes and smacks Kyungsoo’s arm.

“Okay so Jongin’s _not_ your roommate?” she exclaims, laughing, as they walk off down the hallway, and Kyungsoo shoves his hands into the pockets of his slacks, shrugging, “He kind of his. But he’s mostly my boyfriend.”

Jongin stares blankly into the ceiling for a very long time.

“Minseok-hyung, I think Jongin is broken,” Baekhyun snickers, flicking Jongin playfully in the ear. “Look, he’s all red, like he’s got a fever.”

(Jongin does not a fever, but maybe he is a little bit in love.)

❉ ❉ ❉

**♡** **End.** **♡**

**Author's Note:**

> thank u, as always, for reading to the end! all the love keeps my spirits up and i hope everyone is staying safe in quarantine wherever u are. ♡ (if you’d like to chat, u can find me on twitter @xehuntea)


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